
IN WORDS OF 
ONE SYLLABLE 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

ChV).— i?.Yof?Tight So 



Sliell.^li.15 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



ALTEMUS' ONE SYLLABLE SERIES 



A CHILD'S 



Life of Christ 



IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE 



WITH FIFTY FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 



PHILADELPHIA 



HENRY ALTEMUS 



U i 







40828 








ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED 




ONE SYLLABLE SERIES 




FOR YOUNG HEADEKS. 




Price, so Cents Each. 


T 


/ESOP'S FABLES. 


2 


A child's life of CHRIST. 


3 


A child's story of the bible. 


4 


THE ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON 




CRUSOE. 


5 


BUNYAN's pilgrim's PROGRESS. 


6 


SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON. 


7 


Gulliver's travels. 



Jshti&gg, by Henry Allemus. 







A CHILD'S 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 

IN THE days of He-rod, the king of Ju-dah, 
there was a priest whose name was Zach-a- 
ri-us. His wife's name was E-Hz-a-beth. 
They we^^e both good and kept God's laws. 
They had no child, and this was a great trial 
to them. One day while the priest was at 
work in the House of God an an-gel came to 
him and said, Thy wife shall bear thee a son, and 
thou shalt call his name John. He must drink 
no wine nor strong drink, for he shall be great 
in the sight of the Lord ; he shall turn the hearts 
of men from their sins and shall tell them of the 
Sa-viour who is to come. The priest doubted 
this, and said. How shall I know that what you 
tell me is true ? Then the an-gel said, My name 

7 



8 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

is Ga-bri-el (which means Man of God), and I 
stand near to God, who sent me to tell thee :his 
good news ; but since you doubt my word you 
shall be dumb till what I tell you comes to pass. 

So Zach-a-ri-us lost his voice and for some 
months he could not speak a word. Then the 
babe was born, and when he was eight days old 
it was time to name him and give him to the 
Lord. The wife's friends said he ought to be 
named Zach-a-ri-us, but she said, No, he shall 
be called John (which means The Lord is gra- 
cious). Then they said as none of her kin bore 
that name it was not well to give it to the child, 
and they made signs to the priest who could not 
yet speak, and asked what he would have him 
called. And he wrote. His name is John. And 
then his voice came back, and he spake out loud 
and blessed the Lord. 

All the folks were full of awe and fear, and 
said, What sort of child shall this be? They did 
not know what the an-gel had told the priest in 
the church ; and that this babe was one day to 
be the great John the Bap-tist. 

The same an-gel was sent to tell Ma-ry that 
she, too, should have a son. He said she must 




MA-RY AND THE AN-GEL. 



lo A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

name the child Je-sus, And he shall be called the 
Son of God, for he was the One the Lord had 
told Ad-am and Eve of — the One who was to 
come down to the world and save men from 
Sa-tan. 

And Ma-ry said, Let the Lord's will be done 
to me as thou hast said ! Ma-ry was the wife 
of Jo-seph, and though they were poor they were 
of good birth, for they both sprang from the 
House of Da-vid. At this time the Jews were 
ruled by the Ro-mans, who made a law that all 
Jews should go to the town from which the head 
of their house sprang, so that they might be 
counted and pay a tax. Beth-le-hem was the 
town of Da-vid, so Jo-seph and Ma-ry went 
there ; but as the town was crowded there was 
no room for them in the inn, and they had to 
sleep in an out house or barn where the farm 
beasts were kept. While they were there Ma- 
ry's babe was born ; and as there was no bed in 
the barn, she wrapped him in the bands which 
she had with her, and laid him in the trough in 
which hay was kept for the beasts. 

That night some men who were with their 
flocks of sheep in the fields near Beth-le-hem 




I BRING YOU GOOD NEWS. 



II 



12 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

saw a bright light in the sky, and an an-gel 
came down and said to them, Fear not, for I 
bring you good news. To you, is born this day, 
in the town of Da-vid, a Sa-viour, who is Christ 
the Lord. By this sign you shall know the 
babe ; He is wrapped in long bands and lies in 
the trough from which the beasts feed. Then a 
host of an-gels came and sang: Praise be to 
God on high, and on earth peace, good will to 
men ! 

The men were dazed by these strange sights 
and sounds; but their hearts were full of joy and, 
as soon as the an-gel host left they said. Let us 
now go to Beth-le-hem, and see this thing which 
is come to pass, which the Lord hath made 
known to us. They went in haste and found 
Ma-ry, and Jo-seph, and the babe. They told 
Ma-ry what had been told them of her child, 
and they told the good news to all whom they 
met on their way back to their flocks and herds. 

Four hun-dred years ere the babe of Beth- 
le-hem was born some of the seers had said that 
a child of the house of Da-vid should one day 
come to rule the world, and he will be the King 
of the Jews. 




THE BIRTH OF JE-SUS. 



13 



14 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

By these words the seers meant that this 
child should reign in the hearts of men, and, by 
his own life on earth, should teach them how 
they ought to live. But the Jews thought they 
meant that he would be a great king like Da-vid 
and Sol-o-mon, and would free them from all 
their foes and make them rich and great. For 
years they looked and longed for this child to 
come, and wise men in all lands watched for a 
new star which it was said would make known 
his birth. 

Near the time that Ma-ry's babe was born, 
while he was still quite young, some wise and 
rich men from a far off land came to Je-ru-sa- 
lem and said, Where is he that is born King of 
the Jews? for we have seen his star in the East, 
and have come to see him and pay our vows to 
him. 

He-rod was vexed when he heard these 
words, for he knew the Jews did not like him, 
and would be glad to have some one else rule 
them, and he feared this new king would one 
day take his crown from him. He made up his 
mind to get rid of the child at once, and to that 
end he asked his scribes and priests where it 




THE AVISE ME.N BE-FORE HE-ROD. 



15 



i6 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

was that Christ should be born. They told him 
in the town of Beth-le-hem. He bade the wise 
men from the East to go and find him; and told 
them when they had seen the boy to come back 
and tell him where he was so that he, too, might 
go to see him and bring gifts, and give him 
praise. 

So the wise men set out once more, and lo, 
the bright star they had seen in the East went 
in front of them till it came to the spot where 
the child was. Then it stood still, while they 
went in and bowed to Je-sus (that was the 
babe's name) and gave him the gold and myrrh 
they had brought for him. God warned them in 
a dream not to let He-rod know where Je-sus 
was; so they went home by a new way. When 
they were gone, an an-gel of the Lord came to 
Jo-seph, in a dream, and said. Take the wife 
and babe and flee to Egypt, and stay there till I 
bring thee word; for He-rod will seek the young 
child to slay him. So Jo seph fled to Egypt, 
and stayed there as long as He-rod lived. 

For some time He-rod watched for the wise 
men to come back and tell him where to find the 
child; but they did not come, and when he found 




THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 



17 



i8 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

they had mocked him he was wroth and sent 
men to Beth-le-hem to kill all the boys who 
were less than two years old. He did not know 
that Je-sus was safe in Egypt. 

When He-rod was dead, an an-gel came in 
a dream to Jo-seph, and said, Rise and take thy 
wife and thy son and go back to the land of 
Is-ra-el; for they are dead who sought the 
young child's life. So they went back and made 
their home in the town of Naz-a-reth. 

Each year Jo-seph and Ma-ry went to Je- 
ru-sa-lem to a great feast which God said the 
Jews should hold once a year to keep them in 
mind of the time when he brought them out of 
the land of Egypt, where they had been slaves 
so long. When Je-sus was twelve years old 
they took him with them to this feast, and when 
it was at an end and they set out on their way 
back home, he stayed in Je-ru-sa-lem. But 
they did not know this, for there was a large 
crowd with them, and when they missed their 
son, they thought he was with some of their 
friends, but when night came on and they could 
not find him, their hearts grew sad and they 
turned back full of grief and fear. 



20 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

At the end of three days they found him in 
the tem-ple where he sat with the priests and 
wise men and talked to them as if he were as 
old and as wise as they were. All who heard 
him thought it strange that a child should know 
so much, and Ma-ry said, Son why hast thou 
thus dealt with us ? We have sought thee with 
sad hearts. But Je-sus said, How is it that ye 
sought me? Did ye not know that I must do 
my Fa-ther's work? By these words he meant 
to show them that he knew he was the Son of 
God, and that it was right for him to be in God's 
house, and learn to do the work God sent him 
on earth to do. They did not know what he 
meant, but Ma-ry kept these words in her heart 
and thought of what the an-gel had tuld her ere 
her babe was born. Je-sus went home with 
Jo-seph and Ma-ry, and for near a score of 
years we hear no more of him, though we are 
told that he grew in grace as he grew in age, 
and that he was loved of God and man. 

All this time no one knew that he was the 
Christ for whom all men watched, though John 
the Bap-tist told the Jews that the One they 
looked for would soon come to save them if they 




JOHN CALLS -MEN FRO.M THEIR SINS. 



22 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

would turn from their sins and put their whole 
trust in him. For a long time John lived in the 
wild woods, ate poor food, and wore clothes made 
of coarse hair. His work was to tell of the 
Christ who was to come, and to teach men how 
to make room for him in their hearts, as well as 
to bap-tize all who wished to give up their sins 
and lead a pure life. This is why he was called 
the Bap-tist. 

One day as John walked on the banks of the 
Jor-dan, Je-sus came to him to be bap-tized, and 
as soon as this was done, a bright light shone in 
the sky in the shape of a dove and came dowi. 
and rested on the head of Je-sus, and a voice 
from the sky was heard to say. This is my dear 
Son, in whom I am well pleased ! 



CHz\PTER II, 



THE FIRST MIR-A-CLE — THE WOM-AN 
AT THE WELL. 

AS JE-SUS was God, and had done no sin, 
he did not need bap-tism. But he was 
man, too, and came in that form down to 
the world to show men what they ought to do, 




JE-SUS TEMPTED BY THE DEV-IL. 



23 



24 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

SO he wished to be bap-tized ere he set out to do 
his Hfe work. He was grown now, and it was 
time for him to leave his home in Naz-a-reth and 
go where he could do the most good. As soon 
as he was bap-tized, he left the Jor-dan, and 
went to live for a time in the woods, where he 
had no one to speak to, and no food to eat. We 
do not know just what he did in this place, but 
we may be sure he felt much pain and woe, and 
learned to know all the griefs and ills men have 
to bear. The dev-il came to him in these woods 
as he had once come to Ad-am and Eve in Eden, 
and tried to tempt him in all sorts of ways, but 
Je-sus paid no heed to his words. Get thee 
hence, Sa-tan! cried Je-sus, and Sa-tan flies, to 
tempt him no more, and the hosts of God came 
to soothe and feed him who has borne so much. 
At the end of five or six weeks, Je-sus left 
these woods, or wild lands, and went back to the 
Jor-dan, where John the Bap-tist was. When 
John saw him, he cried : This is the Lamb of 
God, who bears the sins of the world; and when 
two men, named John and An-drew, who were 
with the Bap-tist, heard this, they went to Je-sus 
and asked him where he lived. He said : Come 




THE WA-TER CHANGED TO WINE. 



26 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

and see. So they went home with him ; and 
An-drew brought his brother Pe-ter, and said, 
We have found the Christ! The next day 
two more men, Phil-ip and Na-than-ael, came to 
Je-sus, and they all went with him to a feast in 
the town of Ca-na. Ma-ry was at the feast, too, 
and when the wine was all gone, she told her son 
they had need of more wine. Je-sus bade them 
fill six stone jars full of wa-ter, and then draw it 
out; and when they did this, they found the 
wa-ter had turned to wine. This was the first 
great act Je-sus did, and those who saw it took 
it as a sign that he was the Son of God, for no 
mere man could do such a thing. 

From Ca-na Je-sus went to Ca-per-na-um, 
and in a few days kept on to Je-ru-sa-lem to the 
Great Feast. There he saw some men sell lambs 
and doves in the House of God ; and he drove 
them out, for he said his Fa-ther's house was a 
place to pray in, and no one should buy and sell 
there. When the Jews asked him to show them 
a sign that he had a right to do this, he said. 
Tear down this house, and in three days I will 
raise it up. They said, It took six and two score 
years to build this house, and wilt thou rear it up 




JE-SUS DRIVES THE SEL-LERS FROxM THE TEM-PLE. 



27 



28 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

in three days ? They did not know that Je-sus 
took this way to tell them that when they killed 
him (as he knew they would do) he would rise 
from the dead on the third day. 

While he was in Je-ru-sa-lem, at the feast, 
Je-sus did such great and strange things, that 
some folks had faith in him, but their faith was 
so weak that Je-sus dared not trust in them, for 
he knew they would not stand by him in time of 
need. One of the men who had some faith, and 
wished to know more of Je-sus, was named Nic- 
o-de-mus. He came to Je-sus by night, and 
asked him how and why he wrought these great 
works. Je-sus told him God had sent him 
to be King of the Jews, to set up his realm 
in their hearts, and help them to quit their sins, 
and be pure and good like new born babes. He 
said that Je-sus must die to save the world, 
and that all those who turned to the Son 
of God on the cross, would be saved, just as 
those Is-rael-ites, whom the snakes bit, were 
saved, when they looked at the brass snake on 
the pole. From that time Nic-o-de-mus was a 
good friend to Je-sus, and must have thought of 
this talk when he saw him die on the cross. 



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29 



30 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

On his way from Je-ru-sa-lem to Gal-i-lee, 
Je-sus had to pass through Sa-ma-ria. The 
folks of that land did not like the Jews, nor did 
the Jews like them. Near the town of Sy-char, 
in Sa-ma-ria, was a deep, cool well, and Je-sus 
stopped at it to rest and quench his thirst. It 
was the noon hour, and a wom-an with her jar 
on her head came to the well. Je-sus asked her 
to let him drink from it, she said she thought it 
was strange for a Jew to ask her for a drink. 
But he told her if she knew with whom she spoke, 
she would be glad to ask him for a gift, and 
he would give it to her. They had a long talk, 
and when she found that he knew who she was, 
and all the wrong things she had done, she said 
he must be a great seer. Je-sus told her he was 
more than a seer, for he was the Christ. When 
she heard this, she went to the town in haste and 
said to her friends, Come see a man who told me 
all the things I have done in my whole life — is 
not this the Christ? 

A crowd soon poured out through the gate of 
the town to see this strange Jew, who can read 
the heart and past life of one whom he meets for 
the first time. 




JE-SUS AND THE WOx\I-AN AT THE WELL. 



31 



32 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

Those that had faith in him, begged him to 
make his home with them. He stayed two days, 
and then they said to the wom-an, All that you 
told us is true; now that we have seen him and 
heard his words, we know that he is the Christ, 
the Sa-viour of the world. 



CHAPTER HI. 

JE-SUS HEALS THE SICK. 

AT THE end of two days Je-sus left Sy- 
char, and kept on to Gal-i-lee, and the 
folks there were glad to have him come, 
for some of them had been at the Great Feast in 
Je-ru-sa-lem, and had seen the things he did 
there. While he was in Ca-na, where he had 
changed the wa-ter to wine, a rich man who 
lived in Ca-per-na-um, and dwelt at the Court 
of the King, came and begged him to go home 
with him, and heal his son, who was sick. 

This man had heard of the good works 
Je-sus did, and he had faith to think he could 
cure his son, if he would but come and touch 
him. To show him that he could do still more 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 33 

than this, Je-sus said, Go thy way, thy son is 
well. Full of joy and thanks the rich man left 
Ca-na, for he now knew that Je-sus could cure 
with a word, as well as with a touch, and he felt 
sure he should find his boy well, though Je-sus 
did not go near him. And such was the case, 
for on his way home he met some of the men of 
his house who had come to bring him the good 
news that the lad was healed. He asked at 
what time this took place, and when they told 
him he knew it was the same hour in which 
Je-sus had said, Thy son is made well. From 
that day he and his whole house felt in their 
hearts that he was the Son of God, the Sa-viour 
of the world. 

The fame of Je-sus now spread, and all who 
could do so brought their sick to him to be 
healed. But the men of Naz-a-reth, the town in 
which Je-sus had been brought up, did not love 
and trust him. Once when he was in Naz-a-reth 
he went to church, and they asked him to read 
the Scroll to them and preach. Je-sus stands up. 
to read, and makes choice of the part where one 
of the old seers told the Chil-dren of Is-ra~el of 
the Sa-viour, who would one day come to help 

3 



34 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

the sick and the sad, give sight to the blind, and 
bring good news to all. Then he closed the 
book, and said, These words have come to pass, 
for I am the Christ of whom the seer spoke. I 
am the Son of God, and he sent me to heal the 
sick, to make the deaf hear, the blind see, the 
lame walk, and to speak words of peace and joy 
to all men. 

These words made a great stir in the church, 
and some of those who heard them were full of 
rage and scorn. They said that Je-sus did not 
speak the truth when he said he was the Son 
of God, for they had known him all his life and 
they knew him to be the son of Jo-seph. In 
their fierce wrath they thrust him out of the 
town and led him to the edge of a high hill to cast 
him down and kill him. Bat Je-sus knew his 
work was not yet done and that it was not time 
for him to die; so he passed through the midst 
of them and went his way. 

As he stood on the shore of Gal-i-lee and 
watched the men at work with their boats and 
nets, great crowds came out to meet him. He 
stepped in Pe-ter's boat and asked him to push 
it out a few feet from the bank, so that all the 



36 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

crowd could see and hear him. Then he sat in 
the boat, in full view of those on the shore, and 
taught the folks who were on the shore. When 
he got through he said to Pe-ter and An-drew, 
Launch out to the deep sea and let down your 
nets for a draught. Pe-ter said, We have 
worked all night and have caught no fish, but at 
thy word we will let down the nets once more. 
They did this, and the net was so full of fish 
that it broke with their weight. James and 
John, who .were in the next boat, went to help 
them, and the load of fish was like to sink 
both ships. 

When Pe-ter saw this, he fell at the feet of 
Je-sus, and owned his sins. Je-sus said. Fear 
not, but come with me and I will teach you to 
catch men. So Pe-ter, An-drew, James, and 
John left their ships and nets and all that they 
had, and went with Je-sus, as they felt sure he 
was in truth the Son of God. He now had six 
friends with him, and in the course of time more 
came, till at last he had quite a large band. [A 
dis-ci-ple is one who learns, and as these men 
came to Je-sus to learn of him, they were called 
his dis-ci-ples.] 



38 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

The next Sab-bath day Je-sus preached, as 
was his wont all the time he lived in Ca-per- 
na-um. There was a man in the church who 
had a fiend (in those days a man who had fits 
was said to have fiends) and he cried out and 
said, What have we to do with thee, thou Je-sus 
of Naz-a-reth ? I know thee who thou art, the 
Holy One of God. Je-sus bade the fiend be 
still and come out of the man ; then it cried with 
a loud voice and came out, and at once the man 
was well and in his right mind. This was the 
first mir-a-cle of this kind Je-sus wrought. 
From the church Je-sus went to Pe-ter's house, 
and when he heard that Pe-ter's wife's mo-ther 
was sick, he took her by the hand and raised her 
up and healed her. These two good works were 
the talk of the town that day, and when the sun 
set all sorts of sick folks, and those that had 
fiends, were brought to Je-sus to be cured. He 
cast out the fiends and made all the sick folks 
well that night; and soon next day, long ere it 
was light, he stole off to a lone spot where he 
might talk to his Fa-ther, and pray. For though 
he was the Son of God he came to this world to 
be a man, and while he was on earth he had the 



40 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

same sort of griefs and pains that men had, and 
the same need of help to bear them. 

But he had not prayed long ere Pe-ter and 
the rest came and said, All men seek thee. 
Je-sus told them he could not stay in Ca-per- 
na-um all the time, but must now go to the next 
town to preach. And he taught in all the 
towns, and his fame spread, and great crowds 
went to hear him. Near one of these towns a 
poor lep-er came and knelt at the feet of Je-sus 
and said, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me 
clean. Je-sus said, I will; be thou clean; and at 
once the sores left the man, and he was made clean, 
and went off and told far and wide what Je-sus 
had done for him, so that sick folks came from all 
parts of Gal-i-lee to be healed. 

Lep-ro-sy is a dread dis-ease, and one who 
is sick with it leads a sad life ; for folks dare not 
go near him, lest they, too, should catch it. The 
lep-er knows he can not get well, but must die a 
slow death, for it does not kill all at once. It eats 
its way through the body bit by bit, and kills one 
part at a time : first the foot or hand, then the leg 
or arm, then the nose or ears, and so on — it may 
be for years — ^till this death in life comes to an 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 41 

end, and the lep-er dies. Now sin is like lep- 
ro-sy, and kills the soul of him who sins in the 
same way that lep-ro-sy kills the body of the 
lep-er. First comes a small sin, and if one does 
not at once drive it out of the heart, it is soon 
joined by a lar-ger one, then by one still worse, 
and so on till no true life is left in the poor sin- 
sick soul. Long ere Je-sus was born, one of the 
old seers said, The soul that sins shall die; but 
Je-sus came to save men's souls far more than 
to heal the sick. 

The next time he was in Ca-per-na-um, such 
a crowd came to see him that they could not all 
get in the house where he was. A poor, sick 
man, who could not walk, was brought on his 
couch by his friends, and as there was no room 
for them to get through the door, they took the 
couch to the top of the house and let it down 
through the roof. When Je-sus saw their faith, 
he said to the sick man. Thou art freed from thy 
sins. 

Some of the scribes were not pleased when 
they heard this ; they thought none but God 
could cure a man of sin, and that Je-sus had no 
right to say he could do it. As Je-sus could read 



42 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

all hearts, he knew what these scribes thought, 
so he told them he could make this man free 
from sin just as well as he could make him walk. 
He knew they could not see that the man's sins 
were gone, but they could see him walk ; so he 
showed them a sign that they could see that they 
might have faith in one that they could not see. 
So he turns to the sick man (who still lies on his 
bed with no more use of his limbs than if they 
had been cut off), and says, Rise, take up thy 
couch and go to thine house. The man did as 
he was bid, and when the scribes saw him walk 
off with his bed, they gave praise to God and 
said, We have seen strange things this day. 

Je-sus went once more to the lake ; and in 
his walk he saw a man named Mat-thew, and 
said to him. Come with me. And he left his 
place and his work to go to Je-sus: he stayed 
with him all the time, and did much to spread 
the new faith and to serve the Lord. It was he 
who wrote the Life of Christ which goes by his 
name. 




THE MAN LET DOWN THROUGH THE ROOF. 



43 



CHAPTER IV. 

JAI-RUS' DAUGH-TER RAISED FROM THE DEAD — 
THE WOM-AN HEALED WHO TOUCHED THE 
HEM OF JE-SUS' ROBE — OF TWO BLIND MEN^ 
OF A DUMB MAN — OF A MAN AT THE POOL OF 
BE-THES-DA — THE TWELVE A-POS-TLES — 

THE SER-MON ON THE MOUNT THE SON OF 

THE WID-OW OF NAIN RAISED FROM THE 
DEAD — A WOM-AN WAS.HES JE-SUS' FEET 
WITH HER TEARS. 

WHEN Je-sus got back to his own shore 
once more, he found a great throng 
who were on the watch for him, and 
while he spoke to them, a man made his way 
through the crowd, and knelt at his feet. All 
knew him, for it is Jai-rus, who rules a church 
in Ca-per-na-um, and is much thought of in 
the town. He begs Je-sus to go home with 
him, where his one dear child, a girl twelve 
years old, lies at the point of death. I pray 
thee come and lay thy hands on her head, and 
she shall live! he says, in his strong faith. 

Je-sus rose at once and went with him. The 
crowd go, too, and more and more join them as 

44 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 45 

they go on. In the midst of them is a poor 
wom-an who has been sick for twelve long 
years. She has spent all she had on men of 
skill who thought they could cure her, but all in 
vain; she grew worse and worse. She lost all 
hope of help, but now she hears of Je-sus, and 
the great cures he has wrought, and is sure if 
she can but touch the fringe on his robe, it will 
make her well. She does not wish that he 
should see her, so she creeps up and puts out her 
hand that she may touch and fly. The touch 
makes her well ! and with a heart full of joy she 
gives w^ay to the crowd, and thinks no one knows 
what great thing has been done to her. But at 
once Je-sus turns on the crowd, and asks whose 
touch it was that he had felt. Pe-ter said, How 
can you ask whose touch it was when there is 
such a throng on all sides ? 

But Je-sus says that the touch of faith had 
been felt by him, and a cure had been wrought in 
the crowd. He does not ask for his own sake 
for he knows right well who it was, but he wants 
to do still more for her, and make her faith firm 
as a rock. His eye finds her in all the crowd, 
and she who yet so thrills with what has been 



46 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

done in her, sees that she can not be hid, and 
falls down at his feet, and tells him and the crowd 
the whole tale. Je-sus spoke to her in kind tones, 
and said, My child, be of good cheer, thy faith 
hath made thee whole ; go in peace. 

But this scene, brief as it was, kept back 
Je-sus on his way to the sick child, and while he 
yet talks with her who yet kneels at his feet, the 
sad news came to Jai-rus. It is of no use to 
seek help, thy child is dead. This was a great 
shock to poor Jai-rus, but Je-sus is at hand to 
hold him up. Fear not, Je-sus says to him. If 
you have but faith, she shall be made whole. So 
they press on to the house, where they find a 
large throng. 

Je-sus would let none of the crowd go in 
with him but Pe-ter, and James, and John, and 
said to those who wept and waited for the dead 
girl, Give place ! the maid is not dead, but sleeps. 
The tears of the folks changed to a laugh of scorn 
at these words, for they know that she is dead. 
But Je-sus goes in to the room of death with Jai- 
rus and his wife, and his own three friends, and 
takes hold of the girl's hand and bids her rise up. 
His words pierced the dull ear of death, his touch 




CURED BY THE TOUCH OF FAITH. 



47 



48 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

brought a thrill of life, the soul came back, and 
the maid rose up as if from a deep sleep — and 
Je-sus bids them give her food. 

As soon as Je-sus had left the house of Jai-rus, 
two blind men heard that he was near, and made 
their way to his house with him. As they went 
through the streets they cried. Thou Son of Da- 
vid help us ! But Je-sus did not heal them till 
he got home. Then he said to them, Have you 
faith that I can do this for you ? and they said. 
Yes, Lord: Then he laid his hand on their eyes 
and said, As is your faith, so be it to you. We 
know how great their faith must have been, for 
their blind eyes saw once more, and though 
Je-sus bade them tell no one, they went and 
spread the fame of him who gave them sight. 

The blind men were but gone, when a new 
group of friends came to his door for aid. They 
have with them a man who is in a sad state. He 
has a fiend in him, and is dumb. Je-sus does not 
ask for faith in this poor soul, but heals him for 
the sake of those whose faith has- brought him 
there. He casts out the fiend, and the dumb 
man speaks. Of course he, too, used his voice 
to speak the praise of him who gave him the gift 




JAI-RUS DAUGH-TER RAISED FROM THE DEAD. 



49 



50 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

of speech, and so the fame of Je-sus spread day 
by day. But the Phar-i-sees, who did not hke 
to hear his praise, said that he cast out fiends 
through the help of the prince of fiends. 

The Phar-i-sees were rich and proud and 
vain, and wished all men to praise them and 
speak well of them; so they used to fast two 
days a week, and would pray in the streets 
where folks could see them. They went to 
church and gave alms and did all that the law 
said men must do; but their hearts were cold 
and hard, and they did not love the Lord. They* 
drew near to him with their lips, but their hearts 
were far from him. They had fine homes, wore 
good clothes, gave grand feasts, and liked to 
make a show in the world. As Je-sus was poor 
and meek, they did not like him and would have 
naught to do with him; but they feared him and 
did all they could to make folks think he was a 
bad man and did not speak the truth. 

In Je-ru-sa-lem there was a place called the 
sheep gate, and near this gate was the pool of 
Be-thes-da, which means House of Mer-cy, 
where the sick and the blind and the lame used 
to lie and wait for the wa-ter to be moved. At 




THE BLIND MEN CURED. 



51 



52 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

times an an-gel went down and stirred up the 
wa-ter, and then the one who stepped in it first, 
ere it grew smooth once more, was cured of his 
ills. One day Je-sus was at this pool and saw 
there a man, who had been lame, near two score 
years. He said to him, Wilt thou be made 
whole? And the man said, Sir, I have no one 
to put me in when the wa-ter is rough; while I 
am on the way, some one else steps in and I am 
too late. Then Je-sus said, Rise, take up thy 
bed, and walk, and the man felt strength come to 
his weak limbs. He rose, took up his couch, 
and walked off; but as it was the Lord's day, the 
Phar-i-sees were shocked, and said to him, It is 
a sin for thee to bear thy bed on the Lord's day. 
But he told them the man who cured him, bade 
him do it. At first they did not know who had 
healed him, but when they found out it was 
Je-sus, their rage was great, and they sought to 
slay him, for that he had done this thing on the 
Sab-bath day. Je-sus told them how wrong it 
was for them to judge the Son of God, but they 
would not heed his words, nor cease to find fault 
with him for all that he did, and all that he did 
not do. Once, on the Lord's day, as Je-sus 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 



53 



walked through the corn field, with his dis-ci- 
ples, they plucked some ears of corn, and rubbed 
off the grains and ate them. The Phar-i-sees 
said this was a sin, for it was work, and no work 
should be done on the Lord's day. But Je-sus 
told them that he was Lord of the Sab-bath, and 
that the Sab-bath was made for man, and not 
man for the Sab-bath. 

In the church where Je-sus preached one 
day, was a man whose right hand was so twisted 
with pain he could not stretch it out nor use it at 
all. The Phar-i-sees watched to see what Je-sus 
would do, but he knew their thoughts, so he said 
to the man, Rise up and stand where all may 
see you. Then he turned to the Phar-i-sees 
and said, I will ask you one thing: Is is right to 
do good on this day or to do wrong? — To save 
life or to kill? Then he bade the man stretch 
forth his right hand, and at once it grew straight 
and strong like the left one. The Phar-i-sees 
grew mad with rage: talked of how they might 
kill Je-sus; but his hour was not yet come, so 
he moved from that place, and went back once 
more to Gal-i-lee. Here crowds came to him 
to see the works he did, and the sick crept near, 



54 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

SO that they might touch him and be healed. 

It was in church and on the Lord's day that 
Je-sus once caught sight of a wom-an whose 
back was bent so that she could not raise her 
head. For near a score of years she had been 
bowed down this way, and when Je-sus saw her 
sad state his heart was touched. He did not 
wait for her to ask for help, but called her to 
him, laid his hands on her, and healed her. Then 
she stood up straight and gave praise to God. 
The chief man of the church was vexed that 
Je-sus had done this on the Lord's day. He 
dared not find fault with Je-sus, but he turned to 
the folks in church and said, There are six days 
in which men ought to work; come to be healed 
on those days and not on this day. Je-sus 
turned to him and said. Do you not on the 
Lord's day loose your ox or your ass from the 
stall and lead him out to drink? And should 
not I on this day loose this poor woman from 
the bond with which she hath been bound all 
these years? At these words his friends were 
full of joy and, for once, his foes felt a sense of 
shame. 

We are told of one more cure that Je-sus 




THE TWISTED HAND MADE STRAIGHT. 



55 



56 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

wrought on the Lord's day. A Phar-i-see had 
asked Je-sus to dine with him. There was a 
sick man in the house, and the Phar-i-see hoped 
that Jesus would cure him; not that they cared 
for the sick man to be made well, but that they 
might have a chance to say that Je-sus broke 
the Lord's day. When Je-sus saw how they 
watched him, he said, Once more I ask you, is it 
right to heal on this day? But they held their 
peace, so he healed the man and let him go. 
Then he said to them, If one of your sheep 
should fall in a pit, would you not lift it out on 
this day? And if it is right to do good to a 
sheep, is it not right to do good to a man? Still 
they had naught to say, and Je-sus felt that it 
was of no use to try to touch their hard hearts. 
But his own heart was sad at the sight of so 
much woe, and, as he could not be in all parts of 
the land at once to help and heal all who might 
wish his aid, he chose twelve of his dis-ci-ples, 
and sent them to teach and preach in all the 
towns of Is-ra-el. 

An a-pos-tle means, one sent; and Je-sus 
called these twelve men a-pos-tles, since he sent 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 57 

them to tell good news and do good works. 

Their names were: 

Si-mon Pe-ter, Le-vi (or Matthew), 

An-drew, Thom-as, 

James, James (2nd), 

John, Thad-de-US (or Leb-be-us), 

Phil-ip, Si-mon (2nd), 

Na-than-ael Ju-das Is-ca-riot. 

All of these but Ju-das were from Gal-i-lee. 

Je-sus said they were to take no gold with 
them, and no clothes but those they wore, for the 
men to whom they preached must take care of 
them, and give them food and drink and a place 
to sleep. He said they should heal the sick, 
cleanse the lep-ers, and cast out fiends, just as 
they saw him do ; and when they came to a 
house or town on the way they should say^ 
Peace be to this house, or this town ; but if the 
folks there would not hear their words, they 
should do no good works in that place, but 
should shake the dust of it off their feet and go 
on to the next house or town. 

He told the twelve that they would have a 
hard time. That they would be Hke sheep in the 
midst of wolves, and they must be on their guard 



58 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

all the time. But to cheer them he told them that 
God, who took such care of the least of birds, 
that one of them could not fall to the ground and 
he not see it, would care for them who were far 
more dear. And, most of all, that he would 
count all that was done to them as if it were done 
to him. 

It came to pass in those days that Je-sus 
went up on a high hill to pray, and when he had 
prayed all night he came down to the plain with 
his dis-ci-ples. A large crowd came to him there, 
and he preached what is called the Ser-mon on 
the Mount, and said: Blest are the meek and 
those who grieve for their sins, for God is with 
them. Blest are those who long to be good, 
more than they long for food and drink. Blest 
are those who do not fuss and fight, and those 
who are kind to their foes, as well as their friends. 
He said, Bless them that curse you ; do good to 
them that hate you ; and pray for them that do ill 
to you. He warned them that they must not be 
like the scribes and Phar-i-sees, who prayed and 
gave alms just to be seen of men ; but that they 
must go to their rooms to pray, and shut the 
door so that no one could see them — and that 




THE SER-MON ON THE MOUNT. 



59 



6o A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

they must not let men know when they gave 
alms, and did good works. Then he told them 
of two men who each built a house. One man 
built his on the sand, and when the floods came, 
and the winds blew and beat on that house it fell, 
and was washed and swept out of sight. One 
man built on a rock, and, though the wind and 
rain beat on it with all their might, it did not fall, 
for the rock was so strong and firm it could not 
be blown off like sand. Je-sus said those who 
heard his words and did not heed them were like 
the man who built his house on sand — they would 
be lost. But those who did as he bid them 
would be saved ; for they were like the wise 
man who built on a rock — and that rock was 
Christ. 

When Je-sus went back to the town it was 
not to rest, though he had none for long hours. 
There were troops in the town, and at the head 
of them was a man who, though not a Jew, had 
won the love of the Jews. He had made the 
yoke of Rome as light as he could, and had 
gone so far in his good-will as to have built a 
church for the Jews of the town. 

Now this man had a slave who was most 




JE-SUS AND THE CEN-TU-RI-ON. 



6i 



62 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

dear to him, and who lay at the point of death. 
He had heard of Je-sus and the cures he had 
wrought, and wants his help, but he shows that 
he is a well bred man, and has great tact in the 
way he takes to send for Je-sus. He does not 
send a slave from his house, nor some of the 
five score men in his troop. He asks some of 
the chief Jews (whom he had made his friends 
when he built their church) to go for him and 
beg Je-sus to come to his aid. These Jews plead 
the case so well that Je-sus goes with them. 

When the group had got near the house, he 
at whose call Je-sus had come, sent friends to 
meet him, and say, Lord, do not take so much 
pains for me ! I am not fit that thou shouldst 
come to my house. I did not dare to go and 
ask thee to do this great thing for me. But say 
the word, and I know my slave shall live. As 
I send my men from post to post, I say to this 
one, Go here, and to that one. Go there, so do 
I know that thou canst send life and health 
where thou wilt. 

When Je-sus heard these words he turned to 
his friends as well as to the proud Jews and the 
throng who had come to join them, and says, I 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 63 

say to you all, that I have not found such great 
faith as this; no, not in Is-ra-el ! I came to teach 
the chil-dren of Is-ra-el, and the Jews are mine 
own peo-ple; but they do not trust me as does 
this poor Ro-man. He told the ru-ler to go his 
w^ay, and it would be to him as he wished. And 
the slave was made whole that same hour. 

The next day Je-sus went to a town called 
Nain. As he drew near the gate a sad sight met 
his gaze; for a long line of folks had just come 
from the town on their way to the grave with the 
corpse of a young man whose moth-er was a 
wid-ow and had no son but him. Her grief was 
great, but Je-sus soon changed it to joy. He 
told her not to weep ; and when they that bore 
the bier stood still, he touched it, and bade the 
young man rise. At these words life comes 
back to him that was dead, love to his heart, and 
words come to his lips. He sits upon the bier 
and speaks, and Je-sus gives the son back to 
the arms of her who thought she had held him 
there for the last time. 

This is the first time that Je-sus gave life to the 
dead, and there came a fear on all. The crowd 
now learned that he could raise the dead as 



^4 A CFilLD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

well as heal the sick, and they spread the great 
news through all the land. 

A rich Phar-i-see named Si-mon asked 
Je-sus to dine with him. Je-sus goes to the 
proud man's feast just as he goes to a poor man's 
house. It is all one to him, for he looks at the 
man and not at his things. This proud Si-mon 
is not a well bred host, and does not treat Je-sus 
as men in those days were wont to treat guests 
who came to see them. He did not greet him 
with a kiss, nor pour oil on his head, nor give 
him wa-ter to wash his feet, as was the cus- 
tom in that land. 

Je-sus takes his seat at the board. They did 
not sit on chairs when they ate, as we do. They 
half lay on a couch, with the feet thrown back. 
While Je-sus sat at meat, there crept in a wom-an 
who has heard that he is a guest there. She 
stoops down by the couch, and her tears flow 
forth at the sight of his pure face and the thought 
of her bad life. Her tears fall in such floods that 
she bathes the dust from Je-sus' feet with them, 
and then wipes them with her long hair, which 
has been her pride; and gives kiss on kiss to 
those way-worn feet. Then she takes a box of 




WASH-ING THE FEET OF JE-SUS WITH TEARS. 



65 



66 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

rare salve and pours it on his feet, that she may 
cool and rest them. 

Si-mon sees all this, and said in his heart, 
Je-sus is no seer ; or he would shrink back from 
the touch of her who kneels at his feet, for he 
would know what a bad life hers has been. But 
the voice of Je-sus breaks on his ear. Si-mon, 
I have a word for thee. Say on, says the host, 
who does not dream that his heart has been read 
like a book by him who speaks. There was once 
a man to whom two men were in debt. One man 
owed a small sum and one owed a large sum. 
But as they have no means, the man to whom 
they were in debt said he would let them each 
go free. Now which of them will feel the most 
love for the man who has been so kind to them ? 
Si-mon says, I should think that he who had 
been most in debt would love him most. 

You are right, says Je-sus to his host, then 
he turns to her who weeps at his feet, and says, 
Si-mon, do you see her who kneels here ? I 
came to your house, but you sent no one to bathe 
the dust from my feet, while she pours out her 
own tears to wash them, and wipes them with 
the hairs of her own head. 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 67 

When I came in you did not give me the kiss 
on the cheek with which a host in our land is 
wont to greet his guests, but she rains kiss on 
kiss on my feet, and has done so with no pause 
since I came in ! You brought no oil for my 
head, as is the way at our feasts, but she pours 
out on my feet her choice balm. For this cause 
I say to you, I will blot out all her sins, though 
they are, as you think them, and as she thinks 
them, not few ; for she loves much. But he who 
thinks he does not owe much will not feel much 
love to him who frees him from the debt. Then, 
with a look full of love on the poor soul at his 
feet, he said, I blot out thy sins ; thy faith saves 
thee ; go in peace. 

Of course, Si-mon and those who sat at meat 
with him were shocked at these words, and would 
not own that Je-sus had a right so to speak them, 
though he had told them he was the Son of God. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE PAR-A-BLES OF OUR LORD — OF THE RICH 
MAN — OF THE SOW-ER — OF THE TARES — 
OF THE NET — OF THE MUS-TARD SEED — 
OF THE YEAST — OF THE MAN WHO FOUND 
A PRIZE^ — OF THE PEARL. 

APAR-A-BLE is a short tale that means more 
than it says, and Je-sus was wont to make 
use of such tales to teach some great truth 
to his dis-ci-ples and the folks who came to hear 
him day by day. He would not say just what he 
meant, but would tell a par-a-ble and then leave 
thepeo-ple to find out the point of it. Of course 
they had to think a great deal, and all this 
thought served to fix Christ's words in their 
minds and make them stay there. In this way 
they learn more than they would have done if 
Je-sus had not told the truth in tales. 

To show how wrong it is to put one's trust in 
w^ealth, he told them this tale : There was a rich 
man whose land brought forth more fruit than 
he knew what to do with. His barns were too 
small to hold it all, so he said. This will I do: 
I will pull down my barns and build some new 

68 



. A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 69 

large ones, in which I will put all my fruits and 
my goods. And I will say to my soul : Soul, 
thou hast much goods laid up for long years to 
come ; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be gay. 
But God said to him: Thou fool, this night 
thou shalt die; then whose shall those things be 
which thou hast laid up ? 

Now this tale was meant to teach that as it 
was with the rich man, so would it be with all 
those who cared more for wealth than to please 
God. Some day death would come for them, 
and then they would have to leave their gold and 
their goods for some one else — for as they 
brought naught with them when they came to 
this world so they could take naught with them 
when they had to leave it. 

The dis-ci-ples were poor men, but Je-sus told 
them that God would take care of them and not 
let them lack for food or clothes. Think of the 
birds, he said; they do not sow nor reap nor lay 
up grain in barns, but still they do not starve, for 
God feeds them. And hence God would be sure 
to take care of them. Look at the lil-ies, too; 
they do not sew nor spin nor make their own 
clothes. But God gives them robes that are 



70 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

bright-er than were those of the great king 
Sol-o-mon. If God then cared for these things, 
how much more would he care for them. They 
were to seek the king-dom of God, and all things 
needed would be given to them. 

One day while Je-sus walked by the sea shore 
such crowds came to him that he sat in a boat on 
the sea and taught them as they stood on the 
beach. He spake to them the par-a-ble of the 
sower. A man went out to sow seeds, and it 
came to pass, as he sowed, some seeds fell by the 
side of the way and the fowls of the air came and 
ate them. Some fell on rocks, where there was 
not much earth, and they sprang up at once; but, 
as they did not have much root, they dried up as 
the sun shone on them. Some fell where there 
were thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked 
them, so that they brought forth no fruit. And 
some fell on good ground, and grew fast and 
bore a great deal of fruit. 

When the crowd had gone home thedis-ci-ples 
said to Je-sus: What does this tale mean ? Then 
he told them that the seeds were the words that 
he spake to them, the words of God, and that 
by the man who sowed the seeds he meant all 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. ^l 

those who teach or preach the word of God. The 
seed that fell by the side of the way were those 
that fell on the hard path that ran round or 
through the field. This hard path, that had not 
been ploughed nor dug up, was not a good place 
for seed to take root; nor was a hard heart, that 
had not learned to love God or man, a good place 
for the words of God to take root. For Sa-tan 
could pick the word out of a hard heart with as 
much ease as birds could pick seed off of a hard 
path. The seeds that fell on rocks were like folks 
who heard God's words with joy and at first were 
glad to heed them. But their hearts — though 
not hard — had not much depth, and as soon as 
they were called on to do some hard thing they 
quit their good works and had no more life in 
them than had the seeds that dried up when the 
sun shone on them. The seeds that were choked 
by the thorns fell on ground that had been dug 
up but not well cleaned, for the thorns were still 
there and their roots sapped the soil. So the 
plants which sprang up were not as strong as 
they would have been if the thorns had not been 
there to choke or starve them; they grew, but 
were too weak to bring forth fruit. As light 



73 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

and air and sap were drawn off from the seed 
that fell a prey to thorns, so will the words and 
truths of God be drawn off from the hearts of 
those who fall a prey to the cares and joys of 
the world. They will bring forth no fruit, for 
the good things of this life will so starve their 
souls that they will have no time nor love for 
good works. The seed that fell on good ground, 
that is on ground that had been well ploughed 
and made soft and light and clean, brought forth 
much fruit; and so will it be with those whose 
hearts have been stirred to their depths by love 
and zeal. They will be full of good works; for 
they will take the words of truth and keep them 
and live them, and will bring forth much fruit — 
to the praise of God. 

Then Je-sus told the tale of a man who 
sowed good seed in his field; but while he slept 
one of his foes came and sowed tares with the 
wheat, and then went off and let no one know 
what he had done. But when the wheat sprang 
up the tares came, too, and then the men who 
worked the field went to the man who owned 
it and said, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed 
in thy field? Whence, then, hath it tares? He 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 



1Z 



said, Some foe hath done this; and the men 
asked if they should pull up the tares. But 
he said, Nay, lest while ye pull up the tares, ye 
root up the wheat, too. Let both stay in the 
field till they are ripe and then I will bid the 
men who reap, pull up the tares to burn ere 
they store the wheat in the barn. When his 
dis-ci-ples asked him to make this clear to them, 
he said: The field is the world and I am the 
man who sowed the good seed. The wheat 
means those who love and serve the Lord, and 
the tares those who do not love him and will 
not keep his laws. The foe who came by night 
is Sa-tan. The time when the wheat and tares 
are ripe means the end of the world, and the 
men who reap are the an-gels. As wheat and 
tares both grew in the same field till it was 
time to reap them, so good and bad men must 
live in the same world till it is time for them 
to die; and then God will send his an-gels to 
bear them to him, that he may judge them. 

To make them bear these words in mind, 
Je-sus went on to tell of a thing that taught 
the same truth they had just learned in the tale 
of the wheat and tares. He said some men cast 



74 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

a net in the sea to catch good fish, but when 
they drew it to land it was full of all sorts — 
both good and bad. They sat down and took 
out the good fish to keep, but would not have 
the bad ones. Just as there were all sorts of 
fish in the net, so may there be all sorts of men 
in the church; but at the last day an-gels will 
come and take the good ones to live with God, 
and will leave the bad ones to their fate. 

Two more tales that Je-sus told that day were 
meant to show how the love of God grows in the 
heart. First he spoke of a man who sowed a 
mus-tard seed and it grew to be so large that the 
birds came and lodged in the boughs of it. Just 
as this small seed took root and pushed its way 
up, bit by bit, till it grew to be a tree in which 
birds found peace and rest, so would a small seed 
of faith take root in the heart of a man, if he 
would but watch and tend it, and would grow till 
it grew to be the tree of life in which he might 
find rest and peace for his soul. Then he spoke 
of a cake of yeast that was put in some meal 
and left there to see what it would do. It went 
to work at once and, though it made no fuss, 
soon worked its way all through the flour and 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 75 

made it light and sweet. And what yeast does 
for flour the grace of God will do for our hearts 
if w^e but give it room; as yeast makes bread 
swell and rise, so does God's grace make our 
hearts swell with joy, and rise with love and 
praise to him. 

Still two more tales, the last that Je-sus made 
use of at that time, were to teach the great worth 
of the things of God. The first was of a man 
who found a rich prize (it may have been a large 
lump of gold) hid in a field, and so great was his 
joy at this good luck that he went off in haste 
and sold all that he had to raise funds to buy the 
field. For the sake of the prize he gave all his 
goods; and in the same way should men joy to 
give up all they have for the sake of Je-sus. He 
is the best prize, and those who win him can not 
be poor, though they should have naught else. 
The next told of a man who won a great prize. 
He was a man who dealt in pearls. His work 
was to buy and sell these gems, and one day, in 
the way of trade, he saw a fine large pearl that 
he knew was worth much more than the rest. 
He felt that he would like this pearl more than 
aught else in the world, and he did not rest till it 



-je A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

was his, though he had to sell all he had to raise 
the large sum it took to buy this choice gem. 
Je-sus is the pearl of great price, and men may 
well be glad to part with all the world calls rich 
and great if they may but win so fair a prize as 
the love of Je-sus. 

At this time a man came to Je-sus and said: 
Lord, I would like to stay with you all the time, 
to go where you go, and to live in your home. 
Je-sus told him he had no home; that the beasts 
and birds had holes and nests to live in, but the 
Son of Man had not where to lay his head. 



CHAPTER VI. 

je-sus stills the storm — heals the man 
wlfh the fiends death of john the bap- 
tist feeds the vast throng — stills 

the waves once more — heals the greek 
wom-an's child. 

THAT same day when Je-sus had made an 
end of all the par-a-bles, he went on the 
sea of Gal-i-lee with his dis-ci-ples, and as 
he was tired he lay down in the back part of the 
boat and went to sleep. While he slept a great 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. n 

storm came up. The boat rocked and tossed and 
the waves swept over it so that the dis-ci-ples 
shook with fear. They waked Je-sus and said: 
Lord, save us or we shall be drowned. Then 
Je-sus rose and calmed the wind and waves. 
He just said, Peace, be still ! and at once the 
wind ceased and the waves went down. Then 
he said to the dis-ci-ples. Why do ye fear? 
How is it that ye have no faith ? But their fear 
grew more and more and they said, what sort of 
a man is this, that the wind and the sea do as 
he bids them ? 

As soon as the storm had been stilled they 
sailed to land, and when Je-sus stepped on shore, 
a man who had fiends came to meet him. He was 
such a fierce man that no one dared go near him. 
More than once his friends had bound him with 
chains to keep him at home; but that did no 
good, for he broke the chains and ran off and hid 
in caves that had been dug in the sides of the 
hills for tombs. There he would stay day and 
night and would cry out loud, and cut his flesh 
with stones. He would tear off his clothes, too, 
and no one could do a thing to help him or make 
him less like a wild beast. But when he saw 



-j^ A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

Je-sus he ran to him, and cried with a loud voice, 
What have I to do with thee, Je-sus, thou Son of 
the most high God ? I pray thee not to hurt me. 
Then Je-sus bade the fiends (for there was more 
than one of them) come out of this poor man. 
A large herd of swine fed on a high hill near by, 
and when the fiends found they must come out of 
the man they begged that Je-sus would let them 
go in the swine. He said they might do so, and 
as soon as the herd felt the fiends in them they 
rushed down the side of the steep hill and were 
drowned in the sea. Then the men who took 
care of the swine ran to the town and told all 
that they had seen Je-sus do; and the folks went 
out and begged him to leave their coasts. When 
they saw the fierce, wild man clothed and in his 
right mind, and when they heard of the fate of the 
swine they feared to have Je-sus stay in their 
land. 

The man out of whom the fiends had been 
cast was so full of love and thanks to Je-sus that 
he begged to stay with him all the time. But 
Je-sus knew it was best for him to be with his 
own folks, so he said, Go home to thy friends 
and tell them what great things the Lord hath 




JE-SUS CURES THE MAN WITH THE FIEND. 



79 



8o A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

done for thee. The man did as he was bid and 
soon the whole town knew and spoke of the 
strange tale. 

At this time He-rod (a son of the He-rod who 
slew the babes in Bethlehem) heard of the fame 
of Je-sus and said, This is John the Bap-tist, he 
has come back from the dead to do these great 
works. To please He-ro-dias, whom he loved, 
He-rod had sent forth and laid hold on John and 
bound him and put him in jail. He-ro-dias had 
been the wife of a man named Phil-ip, but she left 
him and went to be He-rod's wife. John said 
this was a sin, so He-rod put John in jail and left 
him there a long time. On his birthday the king 
gave a great feast to his lords, Salo-me (the 
daughter of He-ro-dias) came in and danced for 
them, and He-rod, who was drunk with wine, 
was so much pleased with her that he said. Ask 
of me what thou wilt and I will give it thee. He 
swore that she should have what she chose, were 
it the half of his king-dom. Then Salo-me went 
and said to her mother, What shall I ask of the 
king? The mother, whose heart was full of hate 
for the Bap-tist, bade her ask He-rod to cut off 
the head of John and give it to her in a large dish. 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 8i 

So the girl went back in haste and said to the 
king, I will that thou give to me here in a dish, 
the head of John the Bap-tist. 

Now He-rod did not wish to kill John, for he 
knew he was a good man and had done no 
wrong. He liked to hear him preach, too, and 
felt in his heart that it was right for him to warn 
men to turn from their sins; and that he was a 
brave man, who feared not to chide the king and 
speak the truth to him. He-rod wished he had 
not made such a rash vow; in spite of the wine, 
he felt a pang of grief that he had been caught 
in such a trap, but it was too late to take back his 
word. He would not break his oath, so he sent 
some men to the iail to cut off John's head. 
They cut it off and put it in a large dish and 
brought it to Salo-me, and she tripped off with 
it to He-ro-dias. When John's friends heard of 
his death, they came and took up the corpse and 
bore it to the tomb, and then went and told 
Je-sus the sad tale. 

But He-rod is not at ease, the fumes of the 
feast have gone off and the thought that he has 
slain a brave man, haunts the king like a ghost. 
When he hears of a young man who goes from 

6 



82 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

town to town with signs and great deeds, he is 
full of fears. He says, It is true that I cut off 
the head of John the Bap-tist, but who but he 
can this be who can do such things ? This is 
John the Bap-tist who has come to life once 
more. He did not guess that he was more than 
John, that he was the Judge of John and of 
He-rod and of all the world, at whose bar he 
shall one day stand and hear his doom from the 
lips of him whom he now wants to see. 

Then Je-sus and the twelve a-pos-tles took a 
boat and crossed the sea of Gal-i-lee in search of 
a place where they might rest a short while and 
gain some strength for their work. The crowds 
stayed with them day and night, and they could 
scarce find time to eat or sleep. Nor did they 
find it now, for when the folks saw them start 
off in the boat they ran round the lake and were 
on hand to greet Je-sus when he stepped on 
shore. Tired as he was he taught and preached, 
and healed the sick all day, and when night drew 
nigh the a-pos-tles came to him and said, The 
day is far spent and the folks have naught to eat; 
send them to the towns near by to get food, for 
there are no shops here where they may buy 



84 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

bread. But Je-sus said, They need not leave 
this place; give ye them to eat. The twelve 
stare at him, and then they beg to know if they 
are to buy the loaves of bread which it will take 
to give each one of the vast throng the least bit 
to eat. How much bread have you? Go and 
see. They bring back word that they had 
naught but five loaves and two small fish, and 
there were five thou-sand men to feed. Now 
there was much grass in that place, so Je-sus 
told them to make the men sit down on the grass 
in long rows. Then he took the five loaves and 
two small fish and blessed them and broke them 
in bits to be handed to the men. Each man had 
as much as he could eat, and still the bread and 
fish were not all gone. Je-sus told them to save 
all the scraps that were left, as it was wrong to 
waste good food. So they picked up twelve 
trays full of scraps, which was more than they 
had to start with. 

This moves the crowd more than all the signs 
they have seen him do. How grand it would be 
to have a king who could feed us all the time like 
this and take care of us ! We could lie on the 
green sward and hear him talk, and have no 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. ^5 

hard tax to pay to Rome, and no hard work to 
do! 

Such a proof of the might of Je-sus made 
them know that he was more than just a mere 
man ; more than a seer. They felt sure he was 
the Mes-siah they had so long looked for and, as 
they thought, this Mes-siah was to be a king, 
they wished to make Je-sus their king at once. 
But he knew this must not be; so he bade his 
dis-ci-ples set sail and leave him there. Then 
he sent the crowd off, too, and when they were 
all gone he went up to the top of the high hill, 
at whose foot he had been at work all day. 
Here he could watch and pray ; could shed tears 
(which no eye might see) for the sad death of his 
friend John the Bap-tist, and could — it may be — 
get a bit of rest, if not of sleep. It was a clear 
night in the spring of the year, and by the bright 
light of the moon Je-sus could see his dis-ci-ples 
in their boat on the lake. A sharp gust comes 
down on the lake from the hills, and they had 
hard work to reach the part of the shore for 
which Je-sus had bid them steer. For some 
hours they toiled in vain, for, do what they would, 
they could not keep the boat in the right track. 



86 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

At last Je-sus went to their aid and, at the 
same time, gave them a new proof of his might. 
He stepped in the sea and walked out to the boat. 
The waves leap and foam but he glides on as if 
his feet trod a smooth green lawn. When they 
saw him come to them in this strange way they 
did not know him, and were filled with fear. 
But Je-sus said, Be of good cheer; fear not; it 
is I. Pe-ter said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me 
come to thee on the waves. Je-sus said, Come. 
Pe-ter leaps down from the ship and steps out 
with a brave air. But the wind blows, and the 
waves rise to meet him, and he looks at them 
and not at Je-sus, and so, of course, he sinks. 
His faith is not so strong as his fears. But as 
he sinks he cries to Je-sus, Lord, save me ! At 
once Je-sus stretched forth his hand and caught 
him, and said. Oh thou of small faith why didst 
thou doubt ? 

When Je-sus and Pe-ter were safe in the 
boat the wind ceased, and in a short time they 
were at the place which they had so long tried in 
vain to reach. Then they fell at Je-sus' feet and 
said. Of a truth thou art the Son of God ! 

The folks on shore knew Je-sus and came 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 87 

from all parts of the land to beg his aid. They 
brought their sick friends on beds and laid them 
in his path ; and he healed them all. In each 
town through which he passed the streets were 
lined with sick folks, who begged that they 
might just touch his robe; and all who touched 
were made well. 

The men whom Je-sus had fed with the loaves 
and fish, and then told to leave him, went back 
to the same spot next day ; for as there was no 
boat left on the lake for Je-sus to sail off in they 
thought he would still be there. But as they 
did not see him they crossed the lake and sought 
him in Ca-per-na-um ; and when they found him 
they said, Lord, how didst thou get here, and 
when didst thou come ? They could not tell how 
he had reached Ca-per-na-um ere they did, for 
they had made use of boats. They knew the dis- 
ci-pies had gone off and left him with no boat ; 
and that he had not had time to walk round the 
sea of Gal-i-lee — from the east side to the west — 
since they last saw him. 

Je-sus did not tell them by what means he 
had reached the town, but he told them he knew 
why they sought him ; it was not that they had 



88 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

seen his signs, but that they had been fed by 
him — they came for more bread. 

Then he told them that he was the bread of 
life, and that God had sent him to give life to the 
world. They asked him what sign he could give 
to prove that God sent him. Je-sus said they 
had seen him, not just his face and his form, but 
his life and his works, and they ought to know 
that no one but God could do such things as he 
did. This was too much for their faith; they 
could trust him as their king, but not as their 
God. How dare he say that he is the bread of 
life, and came down from on high, when we know 
so w^ell whose son he is. They said he was the 
son of Jo-seph and Ma-ry, so he must be a man; 
as a man he might be a great king or a wise seer, 
but could not be the Lord. 

That day a host of those who had been with 
Je-sus up to this time went back home, and 
walked no more with him ; for they thought he 
made false claims and they could not trust his 
word. 

Je-sus turned then to the twelve and said, 
Will ye, too, leave me? Peter said. Lord, to 
w^hom shall we go? Thou hast the w^ords of 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. ^9 

life, and we know thou art the Christ, the Son 
of God. 

Then Je-sus left the land of Is-ra-el and 
came to the coasts of Tyre and Si-don. The 
folks here were not Jews, but Je-sus did not 
scorn to help them, when they came to him, 
though he was a Jew and his work was with and 
for the ]^ws first. 

Je-sus did not wish folks to know he was 
there, so he went in a house and tried to keep 
out of sight; but a Greek woman who had heard 
of him came and begged him to cast a fiend out 
of her child. At first Je-sus pre-tended not to see 
her — as if to say he would have naught to do 
with those who were not Jews — but this he did 
just to test her faith and see what she would do. 
Though she was not a Jew she knew that this 
king of the Jews could help her if he would, so 
she fell at his feet and begged with all her heart: 
Lord, help me! Je-sus said, It is not meet to 
take the chil-dren's bread and to cast it to the 
dogs. She still held on, and said. Truth, Lord: 
Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fell from 
the master's table. And she would not rise till 
Je-sus said, Wom-an, great is thy faith ! Be it to 



90 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

thee as thou wilt. The fiend has gone out of thy 
child! And her child was made whole at that 
hour. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE DEAF AND DUMB MAN FEEDS THE THRONG 

ONCE MORE CURES THE MAN BORN BLIND 

JE-SUS, AND MO-SES, AND ELI-AS^JE-SUS 

GOES UP TO JE-RU-SA-LEM THE PAR-A-BLE 

OF THE GOOD SA-MAR-I-TAN — AT THE HOUSE 

OF MA-RY AND MAR-THA THE PAR-A-BLE 

OF THE PROD-I-GAL SON. 

THEN Je-sus left the coasts of Tyre and 
Si-don and went back to the Sea of 
Gal-i-lee, to the same part of the land 
in which he had once let the fiends he cast out 
of the poor wild man get in the herd of swine 
and drive them into the sea. At that time the 
folks there begged him to leave their coasts; 
but they now were glad to have him come back, 
for they had heard much of his good works and 
wished to see some of them. They brought to 
him a man who was deaf and whose tongue was 
tied, so that he could not speak plain. 




GREAT CROWDS FOL-LOW JE-SUS. 



91 



9^ A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

Je-sus led him to one side and touched his 
ears and his tongue. At once he heard all 
that was said by the men near him, and the 
string of his tongue was loosed, so that he spake 
as well as they did. 

Je-sus charged them to tell no man, but the 
more he charged them so much the more they 
spread the news, and said, He hath done all 
things well; he hath made the deaf to hear 
and the dumb to speak. 

Great crowds came and brought the sick, 
the lame, the deaf, the dumb, and the blind and 
cast them at the feet of Je-sus to be healed. 
Je-sus cured them all, and they stayed with him 
day and night, and gave thanks for what he had 
done for them. When they had been there 
three days and had no food left, Je-sus said to 
his dis-ci-ples, I must give these men food ere I 
send them from me, for some of them came from 
far off and may faint by the way if they have 
naught to eat till they get home. All the food 
the dis-ci-ples had was seven loaves and a few 
small fish — and there were four thous-and folks 
in the throng, but Je-sus made the bread and 
fish hold out to feed them all, and there were 



J r^, r / p-7?Tff/ 




JE-SUS HEAL-ING THE SICK. 



93 



94 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

seven trays full of scraps left. When the meal 
came to an end Je-sus sent the folks home, while 
he and his dis-ci-ples took ship and came to 
a town called Mag-da-la. The Phar-i-sees and 
Sad-du-cees came to him there and asked him to 
give them a sign from God. They did not ask 
this with a wish to learn or get help from such a 
sign, but in the hope that Je-sus might say or do 
what would give them a chance to find fault with 
him. Je-sus knew that they wished to set a trap 
for him; so he said they should have no sign but 
the sign of Jo-nah. By this he meant to tell 
them that as Jo-nah was in the whale three days 
so he (Je-sus) would be buried for three days in 
the earth ere he rose from the dead. 

Je-sus went on to Beth-sa-ida. And they 
brought a blind man to him and begged him to 
touch him. And he took the blind man by the 
hand and led him out of the town; and when 
he had spit on his eyes and put his hands on him 
he asked him if he saw aright. And he looked 
up and said, I see men walk, but they look like 
trees. Once more Je-sus put his hands on his 
eyes and made him look up, and this time all 
things looked clear and plain to him. Then 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 95 

Je-sus sent him to his house and told him not to 
go back to the town nor tell it to those on the 
way. 

Je-sus now made a trip to the north with his 
dis-ci-ples, and on the way he asked them, Who 
do men say that I am ? They said, Some say 
thou art John the Bap-tist come back from the 
dead, and some say one of the old seers has 
come to earth once more. Then Je-sus asked, 
But whom do ye say that I am ? Peter said, 
Thou art the Christ, the Son of God. By these 
words he meant to let Je-sus know that his a-pos- 
tles thought he was the Sa-vi-our whom God had 
said He would send to save the world. But 
though they put their trust in him they did not 
yet know how he was to save the world ; they 
still thought of him as a king who would tight 
for them, but not as a God who would die for 
them. They knew he could do all things, and 
so they felt sure he would soon change from a 
poor man to a rich king, and would then make 
them the chief men in his king-dom. 

Je-sus thought it was time for them to get 
rid of this false view of him and his work ; so 
he now told them that the way in which he was 



9^ A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

to save men was to die for them on the cross. 
He said he must go to Je-ru-sa-lem, and that 
the chief priests and scribes would cause him to 
be put to death there, but on the third day he 
would rise from the dead. And he said, too, that 
his throne was on high, and that those who 
wished to share it with him must share his cross 
on earth, too ; that is, they must care less for 
the things of the world than for the things of 
God; must give up wealth and rank and fame 
and ease — yea, their life if need be, for Je-sus' 
sake — for it would do a man no good to have all 
the fine things in the world while he lived if he 
must lose his soul when he died. 

From that day Je-sus did not cease to speak, 
at times, of his death, which was now near at 
hand. 

One day he went to the top of a high hill to 
pray. He took Pe-ter and James and John with 
him, and there he let them see him in a new, 
strange light. While he prayed his face shone as 
the sun and his clothes were as white as snow — so 
bright that they looked like robes of light. All at 
once two men stood by his side ; they were Mo- 
ses and Eli-as, who died long ere Je-sus was 




THE TRANS-FIG-UR-A-TION. 



97 



98 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

born, and had come back to the world to talk to 
him of his death which was soon to take place. 
The a-pos-tles knew who these men were, and 
wished to stay up there on the mount with them; 
so Pe-ter said, Lord, it is good for us to be here; 
let us make three tents — one for thee, one for 
Mo-ses, and one for Eli-as. While he yet 
spake a bright cloud shone round them, and 
from this burst of light they heard a voice say: 
This is my much loved Son; hear ye him. They 
fell to the ground in great fear; but Je-sus drew 
near, touched them, and said, Rise and fear not. 
They rose at once, but when they dared lift their 
eyes they saw no one but Je-sus, for Mo-ses and 
Eli-as were gone. The bright cloud had 
passed, too, and they heard the voice no more; 
but they knew it was sent to tell them that the 
Mes-si-ah of whom Mo-ses and EH-as spoke 
now stood at their side, and that they were to 
hear and heed his words. 

Je-sus charged them not to speak of this 
thing till he should rise from the dead; so they 
kept it close, and told no man in those days of 
what they had seen and heard on the mount. 

When they came down next day a crowd 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 99 

stood at the foot of the hill and a man came out 
of the crowd, knelt at the feet of Je-sus and said, 
I pray thee to heal my son, for I have no child 
but him, and he has a fiend that makes him fall 
in the fire, and does his best to kill him. As thou 
wast not here I brought the boy to thy dis-ci-ples 
that they might cast the fiend out of him; but 
they could not, and I have no hope left but in 
thee. Je-sus said, Bring him to me, and as they 
brought him the fiend tore him, and he rolled on 
the ground and foamed at the mouth. Je-sus 
asked the man. How long has your son been like 
this? and he said. Since he was a child, for years 
he has had no peace or rest, and I beg thee to 
help us if thou canst. Je-sus said, I can help 
thee if thou canst have faith, but thou must trust 
me if thou dost wish me to cure thy son. 
With tears the poor man said. Lord I do trust 
thee: I have some faith; help thou my want of 
faith. Then Je-sus bade the fiend come out of 
the lad, and it cried with a loud voice and came 
out. But it shook him so hard and left hi.m so 
sore and weak that the folks thought he was 
dead, till Je-sus raised him up and let them see 
that he was well. 



loo A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

Though Je-sus had more than once told the 
a-pos-tles in plain words that he must soon die, 
they still clung to the thought that when he rose 
from the dead he would be a king on earth and 
would keep them near his throne. One day they 
spoke sharp words as to which one of them was 
the best, which one did most good, which one 
loved Je-sus most, and which one ought to have 
the best place in his king-dom. They did not wish 
Je-sus to know what they said, but he read their 
thoughts, and to shame them and show them 
their sin, he took a child in his arms and said, 
Look at this child and learn of him, for he is the 
least of you all and the best; he is not proud of 
what he does, but is meek and does not try to 
have the chief place. Nor should you seek to 
be the first, but each one of you should try to 
serve the rest. He who is most like this child 
shall be the first, and he who is least of all, the 
same shall be great. 

A great feast of the Jews was near at hand, 
and some of the chief priests and Phar-i-sees 
formed a plot to get hold of Je-sus while he was 
at the feast. In fact, they sent some men to take 
him; but when these men saw Je-sus in the 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. loi 

church and heard him talk they were filled with 
fear, and did not try to lay hold of him — for they 
said no man spake such words as he spake. 
They heard him say to those in the Tem-ple: 
For a short while I shall be with you, and then 
I shall go back to my Fa-ther who sent me. 
When I am gone ye shall look for me and shall 
not find me; and where I am ye can not come, 
for — since ye have no faith in me — ye shall die 
in your sins. But those who trust me shall not 
die, but shall live with my Fa-ther. 

Then they said: Who art thou, and who is 
thy Fa-ther? Is he as great as our fa-ther 
A-bra-ham? 

Je-sus told them that A-bra-ham had had 
faith in him, and had wished to see the day when 
he should come to earth, and that by faith he did 
see it, though it was then a long way off. Then 
they said that could not be true, that A-bra-ham 
had died long ere Je-sus was born, and so Je-sus 
could not have seen him. But Je-sus told them 
that though A-bra-ham was an old man when 
he died he was not so old as he (Je-sus) was, for 
He had lived with God ere he came to earth and 
ere A-bra-ham was born. 



102 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

This made them rage, and they took up 
stones to throw at him but, as his hour was not 
yet come, he hid from them and left the church, 
going through the midst of them. As he went 
on his way he saw a man who had been born 
bhnd, and so had no help from the skill of man. 
This sad sight touched him and he said to his 
dis-ci-ples, as long as I am in the world I am 
the light of the world; so I will give light to 
these poor blind eyes. 

Then he spat on the ground and made clay, 
and rubbed it on the man's eyes, and told him to 
go and wash in the Pool of Si-loam. He went 
and washed, and when he came back he could 
see, but he did not see Je-sus, for he had left the 
place while the man was gone. This was done 
on the Lord's Day. This blind man was well 
known, for he had long sat by the way side and 
begged, and those who passed saw him there 
each day. This day when they saw him he saw 
them, too, and they did not know what to think 
when they found he had his sight. They said, 
Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said. 
It is he, and some said. He is like him; but he 
said, I am he. They asked him how it was that 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 103 

he could see, and he said, A man that is called 
Je-sus made clay and rubbed it on my eyes, and 
told me to go to the Pool of Si-loam and wash. 
I went and washed, and my sight came to me. 
Then they said, Where is the man who made 
you see! and he said, I know not. So they took 
him to the Phar-i-sees and when they, too, asked 
him how he was cured, he said, he put clay on 
my eyes and I washed and do see. 

They asked him what he thought of the man 
who healed him, and he told them he thought he 
was a seer, a man of God. But the Phar-i-sees 
said if he was a man of God he would not break 
the law, for it was on the Lord's Day that Je-sus 
made clay and rubbed it on the man's eyes. But 
some said he must be a good man, for God 
would not let a bad man do such a great sign as 
this. As they were not all of the same mind, 
they turned once more to the man who had been 
born blind and asked him, What did he do to 
thee? How did he make thee see? The man 
said, I have told you once ; why do you still ask 
me ? Do you wish to be his dis-ci-ples ? But 
they laughed at him and said they were the dis- 
ci-ples of Mo-ses, for Mo-ses came from God, 



I04 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

but this Je-sus was a bad man, and they knew 
not whence he came. Then the man who was 
cured said, I do not know if he is a man of God 
or not; but I do know that once I was bhnd and 
now I see. It is a strange thing that you Phar- 
i-sees, who think you know so much, can not tell 
a true seer from a false one. No bad man would 
do what Je-sus did, and if he were not sent by 
God I would still be blind. 

This made the Phar-i-sees rage, and they 
told him he was a fool to try to teach them since 
they knew much more than he did. So they 
drove him out of their sight and said he should 
come to their church no more. 

When Je-sus heard that he had been cast out 
by the Jews, he went to find him. When he had 
done so he said to him. Hast thou faith in the 
Son of God ? The man said, Who is he, Lord, 
that I might have faith in him ? Then Je-sus 
said. Thou hast both seen him, and it is he who 
now talks with thee. When the man heard this 
he said. Lord, I have faith in thee, and from that 
time he was one of the dis-ci-ples of Je-sus. 

One day a man who was learned in the law 
came to Je-sus and asked him what he should do 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 105 

to be saved. Je-sus said, You know the law — 
what does, it tell you to do ? The man said it 
bade him Love God with all his heart and soul 
and mind and strength, and to love and help men, 
too. Je-sus said. That is right; do that and 
thou shalt be saved. But the man said. What 
men must I love and help? Then Je-sus spoke 
a par-a-ble and said, A man went down from 
Je-ru-sa-lem to the town of Je-ri-oho, and on 
the way he fell in with thieves, who took his 
goods, and beat him and left him half dead on 
the road. Soon a priest came that way, and when 
he saw the hurt man he crossed the road to get 
out of his way, and went off and left him there. 
Next came a Le-vite, and he, too, looked at 
the man and left him to his fate. But a Sa-mar- 
i-tan who saw his sad state, went to him and 
bound up his wounds and poured wine and oil in 
them to cleanse and heal the sores. Then he put 
him on his own beast and took him to an inn 
and nursed him all night. And when he left next 
day he gave the host two pence and said. Take 
good care of that poor sick man and the next 
time I come I will pay thee more. Now which 
of these three men do you think kept the law ? 



io6 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

The one who was good to the man who stood in 
need of help. Yes, said Je-sus, thou hast well 
said, and the tale shows that the law means we 
must love and help all men. 

Near Je-ru-sa-lem and just at the foot of the 
Mount of Olives lies the small town of Beth-any, 
where a wom-an named Mar-tha had a house, in 
which she lived with her brother Laz-a-rus and 
her sister Ma-ry. All three of them were warm 
friends of Je-sus and loved him with all their 
hearts. He loved them, too, and was as glad to 
go to see them as they were to have him come. 
But one day when he was there Mar-tha felt 
vexed that Ma-ry left her to do all the house 
work, while she just sat at the feet of the Lord 
to catch each word that fell from his lips, 

Mar-tha wished to have the meals and all 
things in her house as good as they could be for 
so loved a guest, and she thought Ma-ry ought 
to help her cook and serve ; so she went to Je-sus 
and said: Lord, dost thou not care that my sis-ter 
leaves me to do all the work? Bid her come and 
help me. But Je-sus said, Mar-tha, Mar-tha, 
you do not know what is best for you so well as 
Ma-ry does. In your zeal you do much that it 




THE GOOD SA-MAR-I-TAN. 



107 



io8 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

is not worth while to do. There is more than 
one way to please me, and Ma-ry has made 
choice of the best way; for the things you do for 
me will not last long, but the things I do for 
you will last for aye. Do not call Ma-ry to help 
you make a feast for me, but come here and help 
her make the most of the feast I serve for you. 

Thus did Je-sus teach Mar-tha that food and 
drink, and sleep and rest are not the best things 
in the world, and that those who are wise will 
care less for them than they do for things that 
help the soul. 

But it was not just in the homes of his friends 
that Je-sus was, at times, a guest. He went 
with words of cheer to all who had need of him, 
and the worst of men, did they but try to turn 
from their sins, were sure of love and help from 
him. 

The Phar-i-sees blamed him for this, and 
said it was wrong for him to walk and talk and 
eat with those whose sins were so well known. 
To show that God's thoughts were not as their 
thoughts, and God's heart not as their heart, 
Je-sus told them this tale: There was a man 
who had two sons. One of them grew tired of 




MA-RY AND MAR-THA. 



[09 



no A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

his home and the dull life he led there under 
his fa-ther's eye. He thought it would be a fine 
thing to go off to some place where he could 
have a good time and do as he pleased, with no 
one to watch or scold him ; so one day he said, 
Fa-ther, give me my share of the goods and 
means you have laid up for us, and when he got 
his share he set forth to see the world. He 
went to a far off land, and there fell in with a 
bad set, and led such a wild life that he soon 
spent all his means. Then there was a fam-ine 
in the land, and as he had spent all his gold he 
soon came to want. That he might not starve, 
he tried to get some work; but all he could do 
was to tend swine. This was low sort of work 
for a Jew (for Jews hate swine), but he was too 
poor to choose his work and was so near starved 
he would have been glad to eat the poor food 
which he fed to the swine. 

In this sad plight his thoughts turned to his 
kind fa-ther and his old home, and he longed to 
see them both once more. So he said, I will not 
stay in this place. I will go back home and say, 
Fa-ther, I have sinned in the sight of God, and 
have done much wrong to thee. I am too bad 




THE PROD-I-GAL SON. 



Ill 



112 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

to be called thy son, but let me be as one of thy 
hired men. 

As soon as this thought came to him, he rose 
at once and set out on his way back to his own 
land. When he drew near his old home his 
fa-ther saw him and ran to meet him and fell on 
his neck and kissed him. The son was much 
touched, and said, Ea-ther, I have sinned in 
God's sight, and in thy sight, and I dare not 
hope to be called thy son. I have been so bad 
thou wilt not wish to own me for thy child. 

But the Fa-ther said to his men, Bring forth 
the best robe and put it on him ; and put a ring on 
his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the 
fat calf and kill it and let us eat and be glad. 
For this my son was dead, and now he lives ; he 
was lost and is found. 

In this tale Je-sus taught the proud Phar-i- 
sees that, though God hates sin, he does not 
cease to love those who grieve when they do 
wrong, but is glad to have them turn from their 
wrong ways and come back to him. The 
fa-ther was grieved for the woes of his poor wild 
son and was pleased to have him come back to 
his heart and home : much more does the great 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 113 

Fa-ther of all feel for the woes of those who, 
like the son in the tale, rue their wild ways and 
turn to him for love and help. Since the Fa-ther 
sent the Son to make him known to all men — 
the bad as well as the good — that Son (Je-sus), 
was bound to treat as friends all who came to 
him to learn his Fa-ther's will ; and it was 
wrong for the Phar-i-sees to blame him for this. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE PAR-A-BLE OF THE RICH MAN AND LAZ- 
A-RUS — OF THE PHAR-I-SEE AND THE PUB- 
LICAN — BLESS-ES THE CHIL-DREN — LAZ-A- 
RUS RAISED FROM THE DEAD. 

JE-SUS knew that some of those who came 
to hear him talk thought more of wealth, 
and cared more to be rich and lead a life of 
ease than they did to do God's will and help 
those who were poor and sick, and in need of 
aid. To these folks he told this tale: There was 
once a rich man who wore fine clothes, and ate 
the best of rich food; and at his gate there laid a 
poor sick man, named Laz-a-rus, who had no 



114 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

good food nor clothes, and was full of sores that 
would not heal. Laz-a-rus hoped that food 
might be sent out to him, for he would have 
been glad to have had the scraps that were left 
from the rich man's meals. 

The dogs seemed to feel for him, for they 
came and licked his sores ; but the rich man 
gave him no food, and paid no heed to his wants. 

At last Laz-a-rus died, and angels bore him 
up to live, with God, in a world of joy and light, 
where no one is sick or sad or poor. Dives (the 
rich man) died, too, and went where all who do 
not love God go when they die. In tor-ment when 
he was in great pain, he raised his eyes to the 
king-dom of God, and there he saw Laz-a-rus 
with his head on A-bra-ham's breast. Then he 
cried out and said, Fa-ther A-bra-ham, I beg 
thee to send Laz-a-rus here that he may dip his 
hand in the water and cool the tip of my 
tongue, for I am racked with pain and thirst in 
this flame. But A-bra-ham said. Son, bear in 
mind, that while you lived you had all the joys 
the world could give, and Laz-a-rus had naught 
but grief and pain. Now he has bliss and you 
have woe — 'twixt him and you there is a great 




LAZ-A-RUS AT THE RICH MAN'S GATE. 



ii5 



ii6 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

gulf fixed ; no one can go from his home to 
yours ; nor can one come from your home to 
his. Then Dives said, If he may not come to 
me please send him to my old home on earth to 
teach my friends there what to do that they may 
not have to come to this dread place when they 
die. A-bra-ham said, they know the laws of 
God ; Mo-ses and the seers have told them what 
they should do; let them hear them. Then the 
rich man said, Nay, Fa-ther A-bra-ham ; but if 
one went from the dead to warn them, they would 
turn from their sins and try to do God's will. 
But A-bra-ham said. If they will not do what 
Mo-ses and the seers bade them, they would not 
heed the words of one who went to them from 
the dead. 

This tale shows that it is just as wrong not to 
do what one ought to do as it is to do what one 
ought not to do. The rich man did Laz-a-rus no 
great harm, but when he had a chance to help 
him he failed to do so; and for that he was 
judged. 

To some men who thought they were good 
and scorned all who did not keep the law so well 
as they did, Je-sus said, Two men, one a Phar-i- 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. n? 

see and one a Pub-li-can, went to church to pray. 
The Phar-i-see chose a place where all could see 
him; and he stood up and said, Lord, I thank 
thee that I am not like those men who are not 
just and do not keep the law — who take more 
than they have a right to, and keep what is not 
theirs. I fast twice in the week, and give to the 
church one-tenth part of all I own. 

The Pub-li-can knelt where he thought no 
one could see him, and bowed his head and 
smote on his breast as he said, God be good to 
me and help me to get rid of all my sins. 

Je-sus said God was more pleased with this 
man than he was with the Phar-i-see; for he 
loves the meek and will raise them up, but will 
put down those who are proud and vain. 

At this time some of the folks brought their 
boys and girls and babes to Je-sus that he might 
lay his hands on them and bless them. The dis- 
ci-pies thought that Je-sus came to teach and 
preach to grown folks, and that it was not right 
to ask him to spend his time on those who were 
too young to be helped by him ; so they chid the 
folks who brought their babes, and tried to make 
them leave the Lord in peace. But this did not 



ii8 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

please Je-sus and he told them that small folks 
had as much right to come to him as grown folks 
had. Then he took the babes in his arms, put 
his hands on them and blessed them and said, 
Let them come to me and do not try to hold them 
back, for of such hearts as these is God's king- 
dom made up. 

Once when the Jews came to Je-sus and 
asked him to tell them, in plain words, if he 
were the Son of God, Je-sus said, I and my Fa- 
ther are one, by which he meant that he was 
God, and that men ought to love and serve God 
the Son as much as they loved and served God 
the Fa-ther. Then the Jews took up stones to 
throw at him, but as his work was not yet done, 
he left Je-ru-sa-lem, and went to a place called 
Beth-a-ba-ra. 

While he was there his friend Laz-a-rus, of 
Beth-any, fell sick, and Ma-ry and Mar-tha 
sent word to Je-sus : Lord, he whom thou dost 
love is sick. Je-sus said, Yes, but this will not 
end in death; and he made no haste to go to 
them at Beth-any, but stayed two days more in 
the place where he was. On the third day he 
said to his dis-ci-ples. Let us go to Ju-dea once 




JE-SUS BLESSES THE CHIL-DREN. 



119 



I20 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

more, but they said, The Jews of late sought 
to stone thee, and wilt thou go back? They 
knew it would be a great risk for Je-sus to be 
seen near Je-ru-sa-lem, for his foes there had 
laid a snare for him and were on the watch to 
take him when and where they could. But he 
said. Our friend Laz-a-rus sleeps, and I go that 
I may wake him out of his sleep. He meant 
that he was dead, and that he must go and 
bring him back to life. They said, Lord, if he 
sleep he shall do well; for they thought Je-sus 
meant that Laz-a-rus lay and took his rest in a 
sound sleep that would do him good and help to 
make him well. But Je-sus now tells them in 
plain words, Laz-a-rus is dead, and I am glad 
for your sakes that I was not there, that your 
faith may be made strong. But let us go to him. 
They did not wish him to take this great risk, 
but when they found he would not be held back, 
Thom-as said, Let us go, too, that we may die 
with him. When Je-sus and his friends reach 
Beth-any they find that Laz-a-rus is in truth 
dead, as he had told them, and has lain four 
days in the grave. A throng of friends are with 
Ma-ry and Mar-tha in their house to weep and 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 121 

mourn with them. But when Mar-tha hears that 
Je-sus is near at hand, she leaves the hosts of 
friends and goes to meet the one friend whose 
love is worth more than all the rest. But Ma-ry 
sits still in the house. 

As soon as Mar-tha caught sight of Je-sus 
she cried out, Lord, if thou hadst been here he 
would not have died. She had so much faith as 
that, and seems to have had still more, for she 
adds, And I know that though he is now dead, 
yet God will give thee all things which thou wilt 
ask of him. Je-sus said, Laz-a-rus shall rise 
from the dead. Yes, Lord, I know that he shall 
rise at the last day when all the dead shall rise. 
She has not yet the full faith in Je-sus, so he 
tells her in plain words that it is through him 
that Laz-a-rus (and all the dead) must rise from 
death and live once more. He that hath faith 
in me though he were dead, yet shall he live, 
and he who lives and has faith in me shall not 
die. Have you this faith? Then Mar-tha said. 
Yes, Lord; I know that thou art the Christ, the 
Son of God, and that thou canst do all things. 
Then she went back to the house and told 
Ma-ry, The Lord has come and calls for you. 



122 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

All this time Ma-ry had been at home with the 
friends who had come to cheer her and Mar-tha 
in their grief: but when she heard that Je-sus 
had asked for her, she rose with haste and went 
to meet him. He had not yet come through the 
gate of the town, but was in the place where 
Mar-tha had met him. 

The Jews who sat with her, and who had not 
heard what Mar-tha said, thought she meant to 
go to the grave to weep there, and so they went 
with her. But she went straight to Je-sus with 
her grief, fell at his feet, and said, just as Mar-tha 
had done — Lord, if Thou hadst been here my 
brother had not died. Tears choked her voice 
and she could say no more : those who were 
with her wept, too. Je-sus was much moved at 
the sight of all these tears, and said, where have 
ye laid him? They said, Lord, come and see. 

Jesus wept, and some of the Jews said: See 
how much he loved him ! But some of the Jews 
said, If this man can make blind folks see, can 
he not make sick folks well ? And if he loved 
Laz-a-rus so much, why did he let him die? 

When they reach the place, Je-sus bids them 
raise the stone from the mouth of the cave. The 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 12.3 

tombs in that land were hewn in the rocks, and 
a stone was made to serve as a door. 

Mar-tha thought Je-sus' wish must be to see 
the face of his dear friend once more in the flesh, 
and she bids him call to mind how long he has 
been dead, and that it will be best to think of his 
face as it was in health, and not look at it now 
that death and the grave had done their sad 
work. 

But Je-sus said to Mar-tha, Did I not tell 
you that if you would have faith you should see 
how God could work ? 

Then those who stood by did as Je-sus bade 
them, and took off the stone from the place 
where the dead man was laid. Je-sus gave 
thanks to God, and said, Fa-ther, I thank Thee 
that Thou hast heard me. I know Thou dost 
hear me each time I cry to Thee ; but for the 
sake of those who stand here I speak — that they 
may know Thou hast sent me. Then he cried 
with a loud voice, Laz-a-rus come forth ! and 
he that was dead came forth, bound hand and 
foot with white cloths, and with a white cloth 
bound on his face. 

Je-sus said. Loose him and let him go ! Thus 



124 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

did the Lord keep his word to Mar-tha and 
Ma-ry; he had said, though Laz-a-rus was so 
sick, the end should not be death, and now their 
brother stood there full of life and health. Some 
of the Jews who saw this proof of the might of 
Je-sus had faith in him; but some of them went 
their ways to the Phar-i-sees and told them what 
things Je-sus had done. Then the chief priests 
and Phar-i-sees said, What shall we do? Of a 
truth this man does strange things, and if we let 
him go on this way he will soon win all hearts. 
The folks will love and trust him so much that 
they will make him their king; that will not be 
safe for us, for it will bring Rome with all her 
hosts to crush us and take our town and the 
whole land. No it will not do for this man to 
live, said the High Priest It is best that one 
should die for us, so that we may not all die. 
But Je-sus knew that his time had not yet come, 
so he left Beth-any (which was so near Je-ru-sa- 
lem that he was not safe there) and went to 
E-phraim, a small town where he was not so well 
known, and stayed there till the time for the spring 
feast of the Jews drew near. Here Je-sus had 
more time to talk to his dis-ci-ples, and he told 




LAZ-A-RUS RAISED FROM THE DEAD. 



125 



126 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

them for the third time that he could not stay 
with them long, as the chief priests and Phar-i- 
sees would soon take him and give him up to the 
Romans, who would mock him and spit on him 
and beat him, and at last would put him to death 
on a cross and lay him in the grave; but he told 
them, too, that when he had been dead three 
days he would rise from the grave. 

The twelve did not like to hear of his sad 
fate; they thought it strange that he would let 
such things come to pass, and yet they did not 
know how to take his words. They still thought 
that when he rose from the dead he would reign 
like a king on earth; and the mother of James 
and John asked him to grant that her two sons 
might sit, one on his right hand and one on his 
left in his king-dom. Je-sus said that those who 
wished to reign with him must first die for him, 
and James and John and all of the twelve said 
they would do this. 



CHAPTER IX. 

BLIND BAR-TIM-EUS HEALED — ZAC-CHE-US 

CALLED — JE-SUS EN-TERS JE-RU-SA-LEM 

HE TEACHES IN THE TEM-PLE. 

JE-SUS and his band of twelve went to Jer- 
i-cho, a town on the road to Je-ru-sa-lem. 
Great crowds joined him on the way, and 
when they drew near the town they saw a poor 
bhnd man named Bar-tim-eus who sat near the 
town gate to have a good chance to beg from all 
who went in and out. 

Bar-tim-eus asked what all the noise meant, 
and when he heard that Je-sus was there he 
thought no more of mere alms, but cried out 
with a loud voice, Je-sus, thou son of Da-vid, 
help me ! Those who stood near tried to make 
him hold his peace, but he cried the more: Thou 
son of Da-vid help me ! Then Je-sus stood still 
and called Bar-tim-eus to him and asked him, 
What wilt thou that I should do to thee? The 
blind man said. Lord, give me my sight, and 
Je-sus said, Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee 

whole. And at once sight came to his eyes, and 

127 



12^ A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

he gave thanks and joined the ranks of those 
who went on with Je-sus. 

This crowd had grown to a long train, and 
as they marched through the streets of Jer-i-cho, 
a rich man named Zac-che-us who had heard 
much of Je-sus runs in front so that he may get 
a good place to stand and see him pass. But he 
is so short that he fears he can not see well in 
such a crowd, so he climbs a tree by the side of 
the road. From his safe perch he looks down 
on the dense throng, and the young Jew on 
whom all eyes are bent. He has no thought 
that Je-sus will care to see him. When Je-sus 
came to the tree he looked up and saw him and 
said : Zac-che-us, make haste and come down, 
for I must be thy guest to-day. Zac-che-us 
came down and took Je-sus to his home with 
joy. The crowd were full of spite and scorn 
when they saw Je-sus had made choice of such 
a man for his host, and said Je-sus ought not to 
go with Zac-che-us, for he was not a good man 
and had won his wealth by fraud. This was 
true, Zac-che-us was chief of those who took toll 
for Rome, and had sinned in more ways than 
one; but now his heart was full of love to the 



■fill 




129 



i3o A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

Lord, and he wished to do all the good he could 
to show his grief for his past wrongs. He 
owned that he had not been kind to the poor, 
but said he would now give them half of his 
goods, and that to those from whom he once 
took more than he had a right to take he would 
now give five times as much as he took from 
them. This was a proof that he meant to turn 
from his sin and try to lead a pure life; so Je-sus 
went home with him, and to those who blamed 
him for this he said that the Son of Man came to 
seek and to save that which was lost, and that 
the worse a man had been the more did he stand 
in need of a friend to help him do right. 

The next day Je-sus went to Beth-any. 
Si-mon, a lep-er whom Je-sus had healed, lived 
in Beth-any, and in his house a feast was spread 
for the Lord. Laz-a-rus and Si-mon, two men 
for whom Je-sus had done such great things, sat 
at the feast with him, and Mar-tha served. 
Ma-ry Mag-da-len brought a box of choice salve 
and poured it on the head and feet of Je-sus 
while he sat at meat, and then she wiped his feet 
with her hair. This salve cost a large sum and 
was so rich and rare that when she broke the box 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 131 

the whole house was filled with the sweet scent. 

But there is one man there whose bad heart 
robs the scene of all the sweet. Ju-das, one of 
the twelve, does not like what Ma-ry has done. 
Why was not this salve sold for a great sum, as 
it might have been, that the poor might have had 
it in place of such a waste as this? This he said 
not from care for the poor ; for he was a thief 
and had the bag in which all the funds were kept, 
and had the whole charge of these funds. He 
had put his hand in that bag more than once for 
his own good, and he could not bear to see such 
a prize as this box of salve would have been to 
him so lost. 

But Je-sus said, Do not scold Ma-ry nor find 
fault with her, for she has done the best she 
could ; she did it for love, and love is worth more 
than gold. You have the poor with you all the 
time and can help them when you choose; but 
you will not have me long, for the day of my 
death draws near. Ma-ry hath wrought a good 
work on me, and I tell you that in all the world 
this thing which she hath done shall be told to 
her praise. 

This feast in Si-mon's house was served on 



132 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

the Lord's day, and the next day Je-sus left for 
Je-ru-sa-lem. There was a crowd with him, as 
there was all the time, and more folks came out 
from Je-ru-sa-lem to meet him on the way ; for 
it was the time of the Great Feast which was 
held there once a year, and the town was full of 
Jews from all parts of the land who had come to 
take part in the feast. 

At a small town called Beth-phage Je-sus 
bade two of his friends walk on till they came to 
a place where they would see an ass tied, and a 
colt with her; that they were to loose and bring 
to him. He told them if the man who owned 
the ass and colt asked them why they did this, 
just to say: The Lord hath need of them, and 
that then the man would let them do as they 
liked. They did what Je-sus bade them, and 
they put their robes on the ass and Je-sus sat on 
them, and he rode thus to the great town. 

Some of the folks spread their clothes on the 
ground and some cut boughs from the palm 
trees to spread in the path ; and they waved 
palm boughs in the air, too, and cried: Ho- 
san-na to the son of Da-vid ! Blest is he who 
comes in the name of the Lord ! 







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134 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

As the vast throng move on with shouts of 
praise, all at once Je-ru-sa-lem comes in view from 
the heights. At this sight there came to Je-sus 
the thought of how soon the pride of Je-ru- 
sa-lem must fall ; how soon the hosts of Rome 
would lay siege to it, starve those who dwelt 
there, push down its walls and burn the Grand 
House of God. And as Je-sus looks at the fair 
sight, and thinks of the woe that is sure to come, 
he weeps and cries. If thou hadst known at 
least in this thy day, the things which would 
give thee peace ! But now they are hid from 
thine eyes ! 

The crowd kept on with him all the way 
through the streets and up to the church ; and 
there the lame and the blind were brought to 
him, and he healed them. When the Phar-i- 
sees and chief priests saw him do these things, 
and heard the boys and girls in the church cry :• 
Ho-san-na! they came to Je-sus and said: Do 
you hear what these chil-dren say, and all the 
noise they make? Why do you not stop them? 
Je-sus said. Yes, I hear them: have you not 
read in the Psalms that God has made the 
mouths of babes to praise Him? 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 135 

Je-sus went back to Beth-any to spend the 
night; but for the next four days he was in the 
Temple each day and taught the folks and made 
such hosts of friends that the hate his foes felt 
for him grew worse day by day; but they did 
not dare to take him by force for they knew that 
all who stood by had faith in him. But they set 
sharp men to watch him, that they might catch 
him in his words. The first set whom they sent 
came with a lie in their mouths. Lord, we know 
that thou art true, and dost teach the way of 
God in truth, and hast no fear at all of man. 
Now tell us what thou dost think. Is it right 
for us Jews who are God's own heirs to pay a 
tax to Caesar, and thus own that we are slaves of 
Rome ? But Je-sus read their bad hearts, and 
saw the trap which they had set for him, and 
said. Why do you tempt me? Show me some of 
the coin with which you pay the tax. So, they 
brought him one of their pence. Whose face is 
on this coin and whose seal? Caesar's they said. 
Then give to Caesar the things which are his, 
and give to God the things which are God's. 
They were caught in their own trap, and went 
their way in shame. 



13^ A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

New men took their place, and sought to 
catch Je-sus in like ways, but they were all 
put to shame by him. At length when they 
found they could not take him by force nor by 
craft, they sought to find some one of the twelve 
that they might bribe. And in this they did not 
not fail. 



CHAPTER X. 

JU-DAS BE-TRAYS JE-SUS — JE-SUS KEEPS THE 
GREAT FEAST— THE LAST SUP-PER — IN THE 

GAR-DEN OF GETH-SEM-ANE THE JU-DAS 

KISS JE-SUS IS BROUGHT BE-FORE THE 

HIGH PRIEST THE COURT DOOMS HIM TO 

DEATH — THE DEATH OF JU-DAS THE FIELD 

OF BLOOD. 

JU-DAS IS-CAR-IOT was one of the band 
of twelve men who stayed with Je-sus all 
the time; who went from place to place 
with him, ate and drank with him, and did not 
leave him day nor night. For three years he 
had known the Lord's whole life; had heard his 
wise words, and seen his good deeds, and the 
rest of the band thought that he looked up to and 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. I37 

loved him as much as they did. But it seems 
that he cared more for wealth than for aught 
else, and that is why he liked to bear the bag in 
which the funds were kept. 

In a heart filled with the love of gold there is 
no room for the love of Je-sus; and when Ju-das 
found that the king-dom of Je-sus was not of this 
world, and that he had naught to give his 
friends, he made up his mind to sell Je-sus to 
his foes. 

He heard that the court sits that day in the 
house of the high priest who had long sought to 
get hold of Je-sus, so he goes there and asks 
how much they would pay him if he would give 
him up to them. They named a small sum, and 
from that hour Ju-das sought a chance to give 
up Je-sus to the Court in such a time and way 
as not to rouse the rage of his friends. 

The next day was that on which the Great 
Feast was to be kept, when the lamb was to be 
slain at God's house, and all were to eat of it, 
and think how God had led them from the land 
of Egypt, where they had been slaves so long. 
In all the years that had passed since then the 
Jews had not once failed to keep this feast. Each 



138 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

spring they went to Je-ru-sa-lem and ate the 
meal in just the way God bade them, and as it 
was now time for the feast, the twelve asked Je- 
sus where it should be eaten this year. He said, 
Go to such a man and say to him, the Lord bids 
us say to thee, My time is at hand. I will keep 
the feast at thy house with my friends. He will 
show you a large guest room in which you may 
set out the feast. 

So that night he sat down in this man's 
house to eat his last meal with the twelve who 
had been his close friends so long. As they ate, 
he said to them. My heart's wish has been to 
keep this feast with you. But I tell you that one 
of you acts the spy and waits a chance to give 
me up to my foes! His hand is now on the 
board with me! Ju-das knew what these words 
meant, but the rest did not, and it grieved them 
to think that one of them could do an act so 
base. Each one asked. Lord, is it I ? None of 
them seems to have thought of Ju-das, and each 
doubts his own heart. Lord, is it I ? And Je- 
sus said to them, It is one of the twelve which 
shall dip with me in the dish. This did not lay 
their fears to rest, so Pe-ter made a sign to John 




THE LAST SUP-PER. 



139 



140 A C^IILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

to ask him once more to tell whom he meant. 
So John asks, Lord, who is it? Je-sus says 
much as he had done at first, It is he to whom I 
shall give a sop when I dip it. One dish at this 
feast was a sauce made of some wine and dates 
and figs. When the time came to serve the 
herbs, the chief would wrap them round a piece 
of bread and dip them in this sauce and pass 
them on to each of the guests. So Je-sus did at 
this time, and Ju-das seems to have been the 
first to whom he gave this sop. When he took 
it, he was false as to ask. Lord, is it I ? Then 
Je-sus said to him, Thou hast said, and then 
adds, What you mean to do, do with speed. 

Ju-das left the house and went straight to the 
chief priests and scribes and Phar-i-sees and told 
them that Je=sus was now at the feast, and that 
as soon as the meal was at an end he meant to 
go to the Mount of Olives to pray; he said as 
there would be no one with him but his dis-ci- 
ples, this would be a good time to send a band 
to take him, and he would show their men the 
way. 

While they sat still at the board Je-sus told 
his friends what he would like to have them do 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 141 

from time to time to keep him in mind when he 
should have gone back to his home on high. 
This is what he would have them do. He took 
one of the thin cakes of bread which were made 
use of at the feast, and broke it in bits, and gave 
it to' them and said, Take, eat, this is my flesh 
which I give for you. Do this that you may 
keep me in mind — me, my words, my deeds. 

Then he took the wine cup which made part 
of the feast, and gave thanks, and gave it to 
them with the words. Drink ye all of it. This is 
my blood, which is shed to wash out your sins. 

And so to this day we do as he bade his 
friends to do that night. We keep a feast from 
time to time, in which we eat bread, and drink 
from a cup, and think of Je-sus, and what he did 
for us. Each time we do so, Je-sus gives us a 
new pledge of his love to us, which was so great 
that he laid down his own life for us, and we 
give him a pledge that we will love and serve 
him. St. Paul says. As oft as ye eat this bread 
and drink of this cup, ye do show forth the 
Lord's death till he come. 

Je-sus spoke more words of peace and love 
to them. He blessed them, and said, Fear not, 



142 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

and do not let your hearts be sad. Peace I leave 
with you, my peace I give you — not such peace 
as the world gives, but the true peace that none 
but my dis-ci-ples can feel. Then they sung a 
hymn, and went out though it was night, to the 
Mount of Olives. 

Here was a grove of the trees which gave 
their name to the mount, where Je-sus had been 
wont to seek rest and to pray. When they came 
to the gate which led to this nook, he took Pe- 
ter, and James, and John in with him, but bade 
the eight. Sit ye here while I go and pray. 

He went a stone's throw from them, and fell 
on his face and prayed three times, O my 
Fa-ther, let this cup pass from me if it be thy 
will : but not as I will, but as thou wilt. It was 
God's will that his dear Son should drain the 
cup to the dregs, but he gave him strength to 
do it, and sent an an-gel to help and cheer him 
on this last day of his life on earth. While 
Je-sus prayed, the dis-ci-ples worn out with 
grief and want of rest had slept; but now Je-sus 
waked them and told them to rise, for Ju-das 
had come with a band of armed men to take him 
from them. 




JE'SUS PRAYS IN THE GAR-DEN. 



143 



144 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

Ju-das greets Je-sus with a kiss. He has 
been wont to do this no doubt, for in the East 
this is the way men meet their friends. But the 
kiss to-night is a sign. Ju-das has told the 
band, He whom I shall kiss, that same is he! 
Take him, hold him fast, and lead him back to 
those who sent you. 

Hail, Lord ! said he, as he gave him the false 
kiss. Friend, why art come ? Ju-das dost 
thou give up the Son of man with a kiss? That 
is all that he said to Ju-das. 

Then Je-sus steps forth from the shade of 
the grove to meet the band, and asks, Whom 
seek ye? Je-sus of Naz-a-reth. I am he. At 
these words they shrank back, and fell to the 
ground. But his hour had come. He lets them 
rise, and asks once more. Whom seek ye? and 
they said Je-sus of Naz-a-reth. Have I not told 
you I am he? If ye seek me, take me, and let 
these men who are with me go their way. 

When the friends of Je-sus saw the band lay 
hold of him, and bind his hands, they said, 
Lord, shall we not smite with the sw^ord ? And 
Pe-ter who could not wait to be told, smote 




JU-DAS BE-TRAYS JE-SUS. 



lO 



145 



146 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

with such haste that he did not take good aim, 
and just cut off the ear of one of the men ! 

Je-sus bade Pe-ter put up the sword, and he 
touched the man's ear and healed him ; thus the 
last good deed he did was to help one who had 
tried to harm him. He said to Pe-ter, Do you 
think that this mob could take me, if I did not 
let them? If I would but ask for them, would 
not God send his hosts to my aid ? But how 
then could that end for which I came to the 
world be brought to pass? 

To the chief priests, and to all the crowd 
which came out to seize him he said. Why have 
you come out to take me as if I were a thief, 
with swords and staves? I sat with you in 
God's house, and taught you from day to day, 
but you laid no hands on me. But this is your 
hour. When the friends of Je-sus heard these 
words from him, they knew that there was no 
hope that he would use his might to save his 
own life ; so they all left him and fled ! All but 
Ju-das, who goes with the band that he may 
clutch the price of Je-sus' blood. 

Je-sus was led at once to the house of the 
high priest, where were all the chief priests and 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 147 

the whole court, though it was not yet dawn. 
They did not wait till day, but make haste to do 
their foul work and doom Je-sus to death, by 
stealth, so that his friends may not try to save 
him. 

The court could make out no case. They 
ask Je-sus to tell the names of those who were 
in his band, and to make known what he has 
taught. Je-sus bids them not to ask him, but to 
ask the crowds whom he has taught from place 
to place, in all the land, and in the House of 
God at Je-ru-sa-lem. One of the guards who 
stood by struck Je-sus (his hands were bound 
fast you know) with the palm of his hand, and 
said. Dost thou speak in that way to the high 
priest? If I speak ill, prove it; but if well, why 
dost thou smite me? said Je-sus. No proofs 
could be brought that he had done or said ought 
that was bad. But at last, two false men were 
brought in who swore that he had heard him say 
that he could tear down the House of God, and 
build it up in three days. Then the high priest 
bade him make known what he had to say to this 
charge. Je-sus held his peace. 

Then the high priest said to him, Art thou 



148 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

the Christ, the Son of God ? I charge thee in the 
name of God to tell us if thou be the Christ, the 
Son of God. Je-sus said, I am; but ye shall yet 
see the Son of man sit on the right hand of God, 
and come in the clouds. 

Then the high priest rent his clothes, to show 
what a shock it gave him to hear Je-sus thus 
claim to be the Son of God. What need have 
we to seek for proofs ? We have heard his own 
words. What do you think? Then all the court 
said, He ought to be put to death. 

The court broke up now for a time, to 
meet once more in a few hours. Je-sus is left 
in charge of the guard in the high priest's house. 
Then the men that hold Je-sus, mock him and 
smite him. Some spit on him. Then they blind 
his eyes and strike him on the face, and bid him 
tell who smote him. Tell us, thou Christ, who 
is he who smote thee. Je-sus, faint with the 
woe which he had born in Geth-sem-ane, and 
with all that he has been through in this long 
night, bears all this base spite, and ill use. He 
is dumb, though a word from him could have 
slain them all. All this took place at night, but 
by the laws of the Jews, a man could not be tried 




THE JEWS MOCK JE-SUS. 



149 



150 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

for his life at night, so the court had to meet once 
more by day, to make sure what they had done. 

As soon as it was day Je-sus was led to the 
court, and the same form was gone through with 
as when they had sat at night. They ask. Art 
thou the Christ? and he says. If I tell you, you 
will not have faith in me. Then said they all, 
Art thou then the Son of God ? He said to them. 
Ye say that I am. Then they all said. What 
need have we to hear proof? We have heard it 
from his own mouth. 

There was one man to whom the doom, of 
Je-sus by the court brought grief, and shame, 
and death. Things had not turned out as Ju- 
das thought they would. It was plain that Je- 
sus would not use his might to save his own 
life, nor prove that he was the Christ of God by 
some great sign, which should force the court to 
own him. 

Ju-das, was of course, cast out by his old 
friends, but no one else took him up. The chief 
priests and scribes who had made him their tool 
have no word for him now that they have Je- 
sus in their hands. They pay him his bribe, but 
bad as they are, they scorn him as he takes it, 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. ^S^ 

for it is the price of the blood of his best friend, 
and much as they want men who will swear in 
their court that Je-sus has said such and such 
words, they tempt Ju-das with no more bribes. 
He was then, as now, and through all time he 
will be, the scorn of the foes as well as of the 
friends of Je-sus. 

His poor soul can stand no more. He 
breaks in on the court which would not call him, 
and at this late hour he gives in his word for 
Je-sus. His is the first voice to speak for him, 
in whom there was no sin. He cries, It is my 
sin that I gave him up to you, him who is pure 
of all sin! What is that to us, see thou to that. 
Then Ju-das casts down the bribe, and went out 
and put an end to his own life. 

The chief priests pick up the coin, but will 
not put it back with the funds of the house of 
God, for it has the stain of blood on it, since it 
bought the blood of Je-sus. They at last make 
up their minds to buy a field in which to lay the 
dead who have no tomb of their own, nor 
friends to give them a grave. And to this day 
that place which they thus bought, bears the 
name of the Field of Blood. 



52 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 



Though the doom of death has been set on 
Je-sus by the court, yet they have no right to 
do the deed. The Jews were not free at this 
time, and they must ask leave of Rome ere they 
can put a man to death. 



CHAPTER XI. 

JE-SUS IS BOUND AND BROUGHT TO BE JUDGED 
BY PI-LATE — HE SENDS HIM TO HE-ROD, 

WHO MOCKS HIM, AND SENDS HIM BACK 

JE-SUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS — HIS DEATH 

A WATCH IS SET ON HIS GRAVE BY THE 

JEWS. 

THE next day Je-sus was bound and led to 
Pi-late, who ruled in Je-ru-sa-lem at that 
time for Rome, that he might judge him. 
What the chief priests' hoped was that Pi-late 
would bid them go and do their will with Je-sus. 
They know that the case is too weak to bear 
sharp search from his eye. But Pi-late hates the 
Jews, and he will not be a mere tool in their 
hands. He bids them tell him with what they 
charge the man whom they have there bound. 



154 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

The priests do not wish to tell Pi-late how slight 
their charge is, so they say, If he had not done 
wrong we should not have brought him to you. 

Pi-late says. Judge him by your own law. 
He says this to vex them, for they now have to 
say the law will not allow them put a man to 
death. They take a new course to get Pi-late on 
their side, and make up a fresh charge. They 
say, We found this man had tried to lead the 
Jews to cast off the yolk of Rome. He told 
them not to pay Cae-sar's tax, but said he was 
Christ, the King of the Jews. 

Then Pi-late took Je-sus one side to talk with 
him. He asks. Art thou the King of the Jews? 
Jesus said, I am; but my king-dom is not of this 
w^orld. If I were of this world, then would they 
who serve me fight, and save me out of the 
hands of the Jews. As thou hast said, I am a 
king. To this end was I born, and for this cause 
came I to the world that I might make known 
the truth. He that is of the truth will hear my 
voice. 

Pi-late said to him. What is truth ? and then 
took Je-sus out to the Jews, and said, I find no 
fault in this man. Then the chief priests charged 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 155 

him with new faults. Pi-late, as he heard them, 
said to Je-sus, Dost thou not hear all these things 
with which they charge thee ? But Je-sus said 
not a word. The chief priests then said. He 
stirs up the Jews. He has taught through all 
the land from Gal-i-lee to this place. 

When Pi-late heard that Je-sus came from 
Gal-i-lee, he was glad of the chance to get rid 
of the mob and their suit. He-rod, the King of 
Gal-i-lee, was in town at the time, so Pi-late 
bade the chief priests take Je-sus to him. 

Now He-rod had a strong wish to see Je-sus. 
He had thought at one time that he must be 
John the Bap-tist, whom he had slain, and who 
had come back to life. He was glad when he, 
of whom he had heard so much, was brought to 
him. His hope was that Je-sus would do some 
great sign in his sight. But Je-sus stood still, 
with weak, pale face, and bound hands. He 
knew that He-rod had no faith in him, so he 
would not talk or work miracles for him; and 
this vexed He-rod so much that, though he 
could find no crime that he had done and so 
could not put him to death, he and his men made 



156 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

sport of him, and dressed him Hke a mock king, 
and sent him back to Pi-late. 

When Pi-late finds that the case yet rests 
with him, he still means to let Je-sus free. He 
tells the priests and the mob, I have found no 
fault in Je-sus nor has He-rod, so I will scourge 
him and then let him go. He thought he could 
keep at peace with the chief priests if he should 
scourge Je-sus, and yet he could save his life. 

But the Jews cried out, If you let this man 
go, you are no friend of Cae-sar's. When Pi-late 
heard these words, he said. Shall I put your King 
to death ? but they cried, We have no king but 
Cae-sar; when Jesus says he is a king, he does a 
wrong to Cae-sar, and when he says he is the 
Son of God, he does a wrong to God: our law 
says he who does that must be put to death, and, 
as Cae-sar wants you to rule us by our laws, if 
you break those laws he will not let you rule 
at all. 

At each of these feasts of the Jews, some one 
who had been shut up in jail for crime was set 
free, and Pi-late meant to let Jesus go on this 
plea. While he sat on the throne of the judge, 
his wife sent word to him that she had a dream 




THE JEWS CRY OUT FOR JE-SUS DEATH. 



157 



ISS A CHILD S UFE OF CHRIST. 

.\s to ''that just man" Je-sus, which gave her 
gxeat fright and pain, and she l\i.:e Pi-late do 
him no harm. 

This made Pi-laie's wish still more stron^r to 
set Je-sus free. Once, twice, three times he tries 
to save him. But the mob cries, Xot this man, 
to go free, but Bar-rab-as. (Bar-rab-as was a 
Jew who had killed some one, and was in jail at 
this time.) 

Pi-late then asks. But what shall I do with 
Jes-us, whom ye call the King of the Jews? 
The chief priests urge on the mob, and all cry 
out. To the cross, to the cross with him ! But 
Pi-late still pleads with them, why, what wrong 
thinv:: has he done? But their cries rino^ out 
more loud and fierce. To the cross with him ! to 
the cross w ith him I 

Pi-late gives in to the mob: he fears they 
might bring tales of him to great Ca^-sar at Rome 
which would cost him his place, but he stands up 
in the sight of all the crowd to wash his hands, 
as a sign that the guilt of Je-sus' blood would 
not rest on him. I am clean of the blood of this 
just man, said he, see ye to it. The Jews cried 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 159 

out, We will bear the blame of it; his blood be 
on us and on our children. 

Then Pi-late freed Bar-ra-bas, but took Je-sus 
and gave him up to those whose place it was to 
use the scourge. When the whip had done its 
work, Pi-late gave Je-sus up to the mob to do 
their will with him. His own men of war sieze 
the chance of brute sport. They once more put 
on the red robe which He-r: i gave him in scorn, 
and which had been stripped off when he gave 
his back to the scourge. They weav^e a crown 
for him out of a shrub which has leaves of rich, 
dark green, but which has stiff, sharp thorns 
which pierce the skin as they force it on his brow. 
They put a reed in his right hand, they bow the 
knee to him and mock him as they ciy. Hail, 
King of the ]t\\s 1 Then they smite him \i-ith 
their hands; they spit on him; they ^ from 

him the reed, and smite him on the head with it, 
though each blow drives in the thorns more and 
more. 

Pi-late is not at ease. He hears the shouts 
and howls and blows of the brutes in the hall, 
and goes out once more to see the "just man" 
Je-sus, whom his own act has made their prey. 



i6o A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

The sight of the white, sad face with blood 
drops on the brow, but with firm sweet Hps that 
will not curse or cry, moves the heart of Pi-late. 
He hopes the same sight may move the mob who 
wait at the door and in the street for their turn at 
the given sport. So he leads Je-sus forth in the 
robe and crown, and pleads, See the man ! I 
bring him forth that ye may know that I "find no 
fault with him. 

The sight, so full of woe, seems but to rouse 
more thirst for the blood of Je-sus, and the chief 
priests once more lead the cry. To the cross 
with him! Pi-late yields to their threats and 
gives up Je-sus to them to be put to death on 
the cross. 

The Jews take Je-sus and lead him out, they 
too, mock him, they take off from him the king's 
robe and put his own clothes on him, and lead 
him out through one of the gates of the town. 

On his back, sore with the wounds which the 
scourge has made, they lay the cross of wood on 
which he is to die. But he is too faint and weak 
from the long fast and his loss of blood to bear 
it, and he sinks with its weight, they chance to 
meet a man named Si-mon, who is on his way to 




JE-SUS FALLS UN-DER THE CROSS. 



II 



i6] 



i62 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

town, and stop him and make him bear the cross 
for Je-sus. 

Then the train once more moves on, more 
and more join it. There are some whose hearts 
ache at the sight of such shame and woe as are 
put on Je-sus, and they break out in sobs and 
cries. The sad wail comes to the ears of him for 
whom they mourn, and he turns to speak to them: 
Weep not for me, ye wives of Je-ru-sa-lem, but 
weep for your own fate and that of those whom 
you have borne. The days are near at hand 
when she who has borne no child shall be 
thought the most rich of you all. Then shall all 
cry to the rocks. Fall on us! and to the hills, 
Hide us! For if they do these things in a green 
tree, what shall be done in the dry? 

The place where the cross was to be set up 
was a round knoll, which was shaped so like a 
skull as to go by that name — The Place of a 
Skull. 

To add to the shame of the scene, two thieves 
had been brought with them to meet the same 
death with him who had no sin. 

They nailed the feet and hands of Je-sus to 
the cross, and all the while Je-sus prayed, Blot 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 163 

out their sin, for they know not what they do. 
And now they Hft up the three and make each 
cross firm in its place. Je-sus is in the midst, 
and the two thieves on the right hand and the left. 

Pi-late sent a scroll to be put on the top of 
Je-sus' cross. He wrote it with his own hand in 
three tongues, so that all who went by could read 
it: Je-sus of Naz-a-reth, the King of the 
Jews. 

Some of the chief men of the Jews are there 
to watch him; and they mock him with the cry, 
Let him save his own life if he be the Christ of 
God. 

The cross stood near the gate of the town, 
which was filled with the great crowd who came 
up from all parts of the land to keep the Feast, 
so that a throng went back and forth by the cross. 
All, as they drew near and read the scroll which is 
on Je-sus' cross, feel the scorn which Pi-late 
has shown them in its words, and vent on Je-sus 
the rage which they dare not show to Pi-late. 

So they, too, rail on Je-sus and take up the 
cry of the chief priests, If thou be the Son of 
God come down from the cross, that we may see 
and have faith in thee! And the priests and 



i64 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

scribes once more mock him and cry, He came 
to save us, but he cannot save his own Hfe. 

One of the thieves adds his voice to the shout 
of scorn and rage and says, If thou be the Christ 
save thine own self and us! But the thief who 
hangs on the third cross, chides him for his 
words: Dost thou not fear God since the same 
doom is on thee? We, in truth, ought to be 
here, but this man has done no wrong. And he 
said to Je-sus, Think of me when thou art on thy 
throne. Je-sus said to him. This day shalt thou 
be with me where God is. 

And I, if they hft me up, will draw all men to 
me. So Je-sus had said months since, and now 
this thief at the point of death, leads the great 
host who have been drawn and shall yet be 
drawn to the cross of Je-sus. 

There is a group at the foot of the cross on 
which Je-sus looks with love. Ma-ry, his 
moth-er, and John, the one of the twelve most 
dear to him. As he looks on the dear face which 
has been bent on him with love and awe from the 
first hour of his life till now, he longs to make 
sure that she will have love and care to the last, 
and he bids John who knows most of him and 




THE DEATH OF JE-SUS. 



i6s 



i66 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

his love, take his place and be a son to her. 
From that hour he took her to his own home. 

At noon a change comes on the scene, the 
three who hang on the cross still live, and the 
crowd still surge at the foot and send up their 
jeers and taunts at him who hangs in the midst. 
But all at once all grows dark, the sun hides its 
face, not in clouds which soon drift by and leave 
it clear and bright; but for three long hours there 
is no light. 

But at the ninth hour (that is three o'clock) 
Je-sus cries out with a loud voice. My God! My 
God! why hast thou left me? It was not mere 
pain which wrung that cry from his heart, but the 
same woe which he had borne in Geth-sem-ane. 
It was the sins of the world. 

Then he cried, I thirst, and some one who 
stood by wet a sponge in sour wine and put it on 
a large reed so that it would reach his lips, and 
he drank. Then Je-sus, who knew that all which 
the word of God had said that the Christ must 
do and bear had now been done, said. It is done, 
and then with a loud cry to God, he bent his 
head on his breast and died. 

At that last cry the earth shook ; the rocks 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 167 

were rent, and the veil of God's house was torn 
in twain ; and the graves gave up their dead. 

Then came a new proof that Je-sus Christ 
on his cross will draw all men to him. Those 
who kept watch of Je-sus while he hung on the 
cross, when they saw what was done cried. In 
truth this was the Son of God ! 

Some of the Jews who did not know that 
Je-sus was dead, and who did not wish that the 
cross should still stand on God's day which now 
drew near, went to Pi-late to beg that he would 
have his guards break the legs of those who 
hung there, and thus put a quick end to their 
life. So they broke the legs of the two thieves, 
but when they came to Je-sus they found him 
dead, so they did not break a bone of him, as it 
had been said of him like a lamb slain for the 
feast, they shall not break a bone of him. 
There was a rich man, Joseph of Ari-ma-thea, 
a judge of high rank, and well known to 
Pi-late who begs leave to take the corpse of Je- 
sus. Pi-late does not know what to make of it 
when he hears that Je-sus is so soon dead. Death 
on the cross is a slow mode of death and Je- 
sus has hung there but six hours at the most. 



i68 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

Pi-late sends for the chief of his troops who 
were there to watch the scene, and learns from 
him that it is so in truth. Then he gives Jo- 
seph leave to do what he asks. Jo-seph's own 
grounds are near at hand, and in them is a new 
tomb which he has had hewn out of the rock, 
but where no one has as yet been laid. 

Jo-seph, and Ni-co-de-mus (he who went 
to Je-sus by night for fear of the Jews two or 
three years back), take Je-sus down from the 
cross. They wrap the limbs in soft fine bands 
and rare drugs, and lay him in the tomb, and 
roll a great stone to the door, and left him there, 
and make haste back to the town, so that they 
may reach it ere the first hour of God's day shall 
strike, which will be six o'clock of the night of 
that same day on which Je-sus died. 

The chief priests went to Pi-late and said. It 
has come to our minds that Je-sus said that he 
would rise on the third day ; so we pray thee to 
have men watch the tomb lest some of his friends 
come by night and steal him, and then go and 
say that he rose from the dead. 

Pi-late said, Ye have a watch; go your way; 
make it as sure as you can. 




JE-SUS IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS. 



I70 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 



So they went and put a seal of wax on the 
great tomb, and set men to watch by the tomb. 



CHAPTER XII. 

JE-SUS LEAVES THE GRAVE — THE WOMEN AT 
THE TOMB — TWO AN-GELS AP-PEAR TO THEM 

AND TELL THEM, "HE IS RIS-EN" JE-SUS 

AP-PEARS TO MAG-DA-LENE, TO TWO DIS-CI- 
PLES ON THEIR WAY TO EM-MA-US, AND TO 
ALL THE DIS-CI-PLES — THE DOUBTS OF 

THOM-AS — JE-SUS GOES UP TO HEAV-EN 

THE DIS-CI-PLES ARE FILLED WITH THE 

HO-LY GHOST THEY GO OFF TO PREACH 

THE WORD. 

THEIR care was in vain. On the first day of 
the week, long ere it was light, an an-gel 
came and broke the seal and rolled the 
stone from the grave and sat on it. His face 
shone like light and his robe was as white as 
snow. At sight of him, those who kept watch, 
shook with fear and were like dead men. 

Just as the sun rose, Ma-ry Mag-da-Iene, 
Ma-ry Cleo-phas, and Sa-lome came to the 
tomb, and brought sweet spice and fine salve to 




THE RES-SUR-REC-TION. 



171 



172 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

rub the body of Je-sus. But as they come up to 
the great rock in which the tomb is cleft, they see 
the stone is gone. Ma-ry Mag-da-lene, in her 
grief and fear lest the dear corpse of the Lord 
has come to harm, does not wait to look through 
the door of the tomb, but flies back to Je-ru-sa- 
lem and finds Pe-ter and John and tells her sad 
tale, They have borne off the Lord from his 
tomb, and we know not where they have laid him. 

But the two friends whom Mag-da-lene left at 
the tomb, go in to see if they could find some trace 
of their Lord. There sits a young man clad in a 
long white robe who calms their fears at once. 

Fear not, he says, I know that ye seek Je-sus 
of Naz-a-reth, who died on the cross. He is not 
here. He rose from the dead as he said he 
would do. Come, see the place where the Lord 
lay. But go your way with speed, and tell his 
friends and Pe-ter, that he rose from the dead 
and will meet you in Gal-i-lee. There shall ye 
see him as he said to you. Lo! I have told you. 

And they went out with haste from the tomb, 
and with fear and dare speak to no one by the 
way, but ran with the good news to the friends 
of Je-sus. 




THE WOM-EN AT THE TOMB OF JE-SUS. 



173 



174 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

In the mean time Pe-ter and John have set 
out in great haste to see with their own eyes 
what Mary Magdalene had told them of. 

They both ran, but John got to the tomb 
first, and bent down to look in. He saw no one, 
but there lay the fine white bands in which fond 
hands had wrapt Je-sus the night of his death. 
But Pe-ter, when he came up, did not stop at 
the door. He went right in the tomb, and saw 
the clothes. These clothes did not look as if 
they had been torn off in haste, but they lay in 
neat folds, each in its place. Then John went 
in, and he saw these things, and knew that Je- 
sus had left the grave of his own free will. 

Then Pe-ter and John went back to their own 
home. But Mary Mag-da-lene did not go. 
She stayed to weep. The glad thought that 
Je-sus could and must rise from the dead to prove 
the truth of all that he had said and done, has 
not as yet made its way to her heart. She 
clings to the sad thought that the foes of Je-sus 
must have come to steal his corpse for some 
bad end of their own, and that she can not strew 
the sweet gifts she had brought on his grave. 

As she weeps, she stoops down to look in, and 



JE-SUS AP-PEARS TO MA-RY MAG-DA-LENE. 



75 



176 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

sees two forms of light, who sit on each side of 
the place where Jesus had lain. They say to 
her, Why dost thou weep ? 

They have borne off my lord, and I know 
not where they have laid him. 

When she had said this, she turns her head 
and sees Je-sus, who stands near her. But her 
heart is so full of fear and grief, and her eyes of 
tears, that she does not know him. She thinks 
he must be the man who has charge of Joseph's 
grounds, and says to him, Sir, if thou hast borne 
him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and 
I will take care of him. 

Ma-ry! 

What a thrill the well known voice of Je-sus 
must have sent through that sad heart of hers! 

She falls down and tries to clasp his feet, but 
all she can say is, My Lord! But Je-sus bids 
her touch him not, for he has not yet gone up on 
high. But he bids her, too, go and tell his 
friends that he will soon go back to his God and 
their God. 

On her way, Sa-lome and Ma-ry Cleo-phas 
join her, and Je-sus meets them and bids them 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 177 

Fear not, but go and tell my friends to go to 
Gal-i-lee, and there shall they see me. 

But when they tell his friends of what they 
have seen and heard, they have no faith in their 
words. 

That same day, two friends of Je-sus were 
on their way to Em-ma-us, which was eight miles 
from Je-ru-sa-lem. As they walk they talk of 
the sad scenes in Pi-late's hall, on the road to 
Cal-va-ry, and of the death on the cross. In the 
midst of this talk one joins them whom they 
know not (it is said that their eyes were held so 
they did not know him), and asks them why they 
are so sad. 

Cleo-pas (that is the name of one of them) 
said that He who asks this can not have been 
in Je-ru-sa-lem, since he does not know the things 
which have come to pass there in these days. 

What things ? asked their new friend. 

Why how Je-sus of Naz-a-reth, who spoke 

such words and wrought such great deeds in the 

sight of all men, has been put to death on the 

cross by our chief priests and those who rule us. 

Our hope was that it had been he who should 

save Israel, and this is the third day since these 
12 



178 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

things were done. Some of our friends who 
went to his tomb at dawn, found that he was 
not there, and say that they saw Forms of Light, 
and were told by them that Je-sus still lives. 

He who had met them heard them through, 
and then said, O fools and slow of heart, to 
trust all the words which ye have heard as to Je- 
sus and his work! Ought not Je-sus to have 
borne all these things to prove his claims? 

And then he went back to what Mo-ses and 
men of old wrote of Je-sus that he might show 
them how all things had been done by Je-sus of 
Naz-a-reth which it had been said the Christ 
should do. But still their eyes were held, and 
they knew him not. 

When they came to Em-ma-us, he made as if 
he would have gone on, but they beg him to 
stay with them. They know not who he is, but 
they feel that it is good to be with him. When 
they urge that the day is far spent and the night 
draws on, he turns in with them to the house 
where they are to stay. But their guest is soon 
their host; for it came to pass as he sat at meat 
with them he took bread and blessed it, and 
brake and gave to them. Now their eyes are 




THE WALK TO EM-MA-US. 



179 



i8o A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

held no more, and they know their Lord! But 
as they gaze at him in awe and love, he fades 
from their sight, and they see him no more. 
Then how they call up all his words and looks 
by the way, and cry, Did not our hearts burn as 
he spoke with us by the way? And they rose 
up that same hour, though night drew on, and 
went back to Je-ru-sa-lem to tell their friends 
what things were done in the way, and how Je- 
sus was made known to them as he broke the 
bread. 

That same night the friends of Je-sus met by 
stealth, and with shut doors, for fear of the Jews. 
All at once Je-sus stood in their midst with the 
words. Peace be with you ! They are in great 
fear at this sight, and think it is his ghost, for he 
has made his way to them in spite of shut doors 
and bolts and bars. 

But Je-sus said, Why do you fear? and why 
do such thoughts rise in your hearts? See my 
hands and my feet that it is I ; touch me and see, 
for a ghost hath not flesh and bones as ye see 
me have. 

When he shows them his hands and feet with 
the rents which the nails of the cross had made 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. i8i 

in them, and the wound of the spear in his side, 
then were they glad, as they saw the Lord. To 
make them still more sure that it is not his ghost, 
he asks for food, and eats in their sight. 

Then once more Je-sus said, Peace be to 
you! as God has sent me forth, so send I you, 
and as he breathes on them he gives them the 
Ho-LY Ghost. 

Now, there was one of the twelve who was 
not at the place where they met that night, and 
when those who had been there told him what he 
had lost, he doubts their word. He said, I shall 
have no faith that it is he if I can not see in his 
hands the print of the nails, and touch the prints 
of the nails, and thrust my hand in his side ! 

But the next week, when they met on what 
has been known from the day when Je-sus rose 
from the dead till now, as the Lord's day, Thom-as 
was there. 

When all were in and the doors shut, Je-sus 
stands forth in their midst, and says, Peace be 
to you ! Then he turns to Thom-as, whose 
head doubts, though his heart loves, and says, 
See and touch the prints of the nails! Put 



i82 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

thy hand in my side, and doubt no more, but 
have faith in me ! 

Thom-as' doubts all fly at these words. He 
does not care to see or touch the wounds of his 
Lord's flesh, for he sees through that torn flesh 
the God with us of whom Isa-i-ah sung, and 
cries My Lord, and my God ! 

Je-sus next meets his friends as he had told 
them he would, in a mount in Gal-i-lee. His 
band seem not to have yet seen what Je-sus 
meant to have them do. They do not break up, 
and yet some of them seem to have gone back 
to their old trades. Pe-ter, at least, as he stands 
once more on the shore of the Lake of Gal-i-lee 
feels his old de-sires come back, and cries out I 
shall go and fish ! Four or five of Je-sus' 
friends who chance to be with him at the time, 
say. We will go wit-h thee. So they sail out 
on the lake and toil all night, but catch no fish. 

At dawn Je-sus stood on the shore, but they 
knew him not. Nor do they know him when he 
asks if they have caught no fish. When they 
tell him that they have not, he bids them cast 
their net on the right side of the ship and they 
shall find fish. Still they know not that it is 



l84 A CHILPS LIFE OF CHRIST. 

Je-sus, but as they throw the net where he bade 
them, it fills with fish at once, so that they can 
not draw the net back on board the boat! Then 
John said to Pe-ter, It is the Lord ! 

Pe-tcr cares no more for the fish when he 
hears that glad word. He caught up his coat 
which he had laid off in his toil, and sprang into 
the sea, and made for the shore as fast as he 
could. The rest of the crew come on in the 
boat, and drag the net with them. When they 
reach the shore they find a fire of coals, and fish 
laid on it, and bread. Je-sus bids them bring 
some of the fish from the net, and they find it 
full. Then Je-sus said to them, Come and 
dine, and they drew near, but dare not speak to 
him. 

Je-sus now acts as their host. He took bread 
and gave to them, and fish as well. 

When the meal is done, Je-sus turns to Pe-ter 
and speaks words which must have been like 
balm to his sore heart. Pe-ter's grief is still fresh 
for the wrong he had done his Lord, when he 
said three times that he knew him not, in the 
dark hour when he was left to trust to his own 
weak heart. But he now hears him to whom he 



i86 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

had been so false, say, in mild, sweet tones, 
Si-mon, son of Jo-nas, dost thou love me more 
than these ? 

Pe-ter is not so rash as he was, and does not 
boast of his love, but he is sure of it, Yes, 
Lord, thou dost know that I love thee. Je-sus 
then shows him how he can make proof of his 
love; Feed my lambs. Help the young and 
the weak to find their strength and life in your 
Lord. But Je-sus asks once more, in the same 
words. Si-mon, son of Jo-nas, dost thou love 
me ? 

Yes, Lord ; thou dost know that I love thee. 

Feed my sheep. 

The third time Je-sus asks, Si-mon, son of 
Jo-nas, dost thou love me ! 

Three times Pe-ter has said, of Je-sus, I 
know not the man, and three times he must own 
his love to Je-sus. Peter grieves that his Lord 
should ask him this the third time, but says with 
all his heart. Lord, thou dost know all things; 
thou dost know that I love thee. 

Feed my sheep. 

Then Je-sus tells Pe-ter by what mode of 
death he will die, in these words; When thou 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 187 

wert young thou didst gird thee, and walk where 
thou didst please ; but when thou shalt be old, 
strange hands will gird thee and bear thee where 
thou wouldst not. 

And so it came to pass, for Pe-ter was to serve 
Je-sus all his life, and prove his love to him when 
an old man, by death, for his name's sake. Bad 
men would gird him, as they had bound his 
Lord, to the cross. 

It is said, that when the hour came for him to 
be made fast to the cross on which he was to die, 
the thought of how^ false he had been to his Lord 
clung to him, and made him beg those who were 
to nail him to the wood to place him with his 
head down, for he said he was not fit to die by 
the same death with his Lord. 

When Pe-ter has heard what his own fate is 
to be he wants to know what will come to John. 
He knows how fond Je-sus has been of John 
who sat with his head on his Lord's breast at 
their last feast, and so he asks, Lord, and what 
shall this man do? 

Je-sus does not choose to tell. If I will that 
he stay till I come, what is that to thee ? 

John who tells us this, says, that some who 



i88 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

heard it thought Je-sus meant by this that John 
should not die, but states that that was not what 
Je-sus said at all, but, If I will that he stay till 
I come, what is that to thee? 

Once more Je-sus met his friends at Je-ru-sa- 
lem, and told them what their work in the world 
was to be. Not to fish or to take tolls, but to 
spread the good news in Je-ru-sa-lem first, and 
then through all the world. He bids them stay 
in Je-ru-sa-lem till the Ho-ly Ghost shall come 
down on them to fit them for this great work, 
and then go forth and preach in his name. 

Je-sus stayed on earth two score days from 
the day when he rose from the dead. He gave 
proof on proof that he was the same Je-sus who 
had died on the cross. He made them see at last 
what all his life had not taught them, that he was 
in truth, the King of kings, though not like this 
world's kings, and that they were to spread his 
king-dom till it should take in all the world. He 
told them, too, that in this great work, though he 
would be hid from their sight, yet he would be 
with them. Lo ! I am with you at all times, to 
the end of the world. And when he had thus 




JE-SUS AS-CENDS TO HEAV-EN. 



I90 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

taught them, and made them strong in the faith, 
he left them to do his work. 

He leads them out as far as Beth-any, and 
there lifts up his hands to bless them. While he 
thus stands with eyes that beam with love, and 
hands that bless, he floats through the air up and 
up and up, till a cloud veils him from their sight! 
It is not strange that this weak band should 
stand and gaze and gaze in hope that they may 
yet catch a wave of those hands which bless to 
the last, or a glimpse of the robe which shrouds 
his form. But they look in vain. A voice at 
their side brings their eyes back to earth. There 
stood with them two men in white robes who 
say. Ye men of Gal-i-lee, why stand ye and 
thus gaze? This same Je-sus who has thus 
gone from your sight, shall come once more as 
ye have seen him go. 

They went back to Je-ru-sa-lem as Je-sus 
bade them, and for ten days they stayed there 
and prayed and gave thanks to God. At the 
end of that time, one day, all at once, they heard 
a loud noise like the sound of a great wind. It 
filled the whole house ; and what looked like 
flames of fire, in the shape of tongues, came in 




THE COM-ING OF THE HO-LY GHOST. 



[91 



192 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 

the room and rested on their heads, and they were 
filled with the Ho-ly Ghost, and they at once 
spake with strange tongues, so that those who 
heard them thought they were drunk. 

But if they were drunk it was not with wine 
but with joy, for that might which Je-sus said 
should one day be theirs had come to them. Now 
they knew what the life and death of Je-sus 
meant to all the world, and from that day they 
lived but to teach and preach of him and his love. 
They went to all lands, and spread the glad news 
from place to place, and did the same sort of 
signs and good works that Je-sus used to do 
when he was on earth. The most tim-id of them 
lost all fear and bold-ly taught the crowds of the 
love of Je-sus for man and urged them to re-pent 
and be saved in His name. And many did re- 
pent and were bap-tized and spread the faith in 
dis-tant lands. Like Je-sus they gave up their 
lives for their teach-ings, but their blood was the 
seed of the faith that has grown, like a vine, and 
covered the earth to the glo-ry of God and the 
joy of man. 

May God give to each read-er of this book 
the strength to hold the faith to the end so that 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 



^93 



like Paul they can say as their last words: I 
have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith. 
A-men. 





LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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